Champlain Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 587,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,062,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 1.04% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $177.29 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.97. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $242.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.