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

Key Points

• Lincoln Electric has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased confidence in the stock's performance.
• Analysts have varied target price predictions, with KeyCorp raising it to $280.00 while Robert W. Baird lowered it to $212.00, reflecting different outlooks on the company's growth.
• The company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and showing a 6.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $243.84. 425,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 353,112. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's fifty day moving average is $211.35 and its 200-day moving average is $198.89. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $245.25.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.