Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Cut to $211.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its target price reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $216.00 to $211.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.50.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $197.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.33.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LECO. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.