Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Given New $238.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $241.00 to $238.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on LECO. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an underweight rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $216.63.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $229.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $156.80 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $248.63 and a 200-day moving average of $219.44.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,122,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $336,627,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after buying an additional 174,278 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,179,000 after buying an additional 58,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 687,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,578,000 after purchasing an additional 67,867 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.