Brokerages Set Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target at $233.60

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $233.60.

A number of research firms have weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $190.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $197.63 and a 200-day moving average of $196.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,117,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the period. 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.