Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Short Interest Down 18.0% in November

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) saw a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 828,000 shares, a drop of 18.0% from the October 31st total of 1,010,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 284,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.9 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $218.48 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LECO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

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.