StockNews.com Upgrades Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) to "Buy"

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LECO. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 4.2 %

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $7.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $176.20. The stock had a trading volume of 888,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.21. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $238.47.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.05). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $92,117,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,118,000 after buying an additional 334,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,211,000 after purchasing an additional 290,562 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.