Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $194.00, but opened at $217.87. Lincoln Electric shares last traded at $219.21, with a volume of 112,316 shares.

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 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $307,344,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,691,000 after buying an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 12.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.69.

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.