Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Announces Earnings Results

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $1.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $229.16. 116,694 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,228. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $249.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lincoln Electric has a one year low of $156.80 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.63.

Insider Activity

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