Oppenheimer Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO)

Oppenheimer restated their market perform rating on shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an underweight rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $4.81 during trading on Monday, reaching $225.13. 414,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 285,506. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock's fifty day moving average is $248.23 and its 200 day moving average is $220.22. The firm has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $164.00 and a 1 year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 30.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3,147.8% during the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,215,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth $217,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

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.