Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $238.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $241.00 to $238.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on LECO. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an underweight rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $225.13 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $248.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $377,122,000 after buying an additional 12,773 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $336,627,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,179,000 after purchasing an additional 58,695 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 687,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,578,000 after purchasing an additional 67,867 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.