Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Lincoln Electric has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst outlook.
• Despite the downgrade, other firms like Stifel Nicolaus and KeyCorp have raised their price targets for the stock, indicating ongoing investor interest.
• Lincoln Electric reported earnings of $2.60 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $1.09 billion and a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.6%.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

LECO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $4.73 on Friday, hitting $236.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 404,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,640. Lincoln Electric has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19. The firm has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $239.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.53.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $445,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,339 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 7,728 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. It offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, and specialty gas regulators, and education solutions, as well as a portfolio of automated solutions for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business in the United States.

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