KeyCorp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its target price increased by analysts at KeyCorp from $230.00 to $245.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.58% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $213.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $194.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.75.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.