Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $209.92 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $203.12 and its 200 day moving average is $195.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.16. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LECO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% 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.