Elios Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,201 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $518,210,000 after acquiring an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $210,831,000 after purchasing an additional 494,464 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares during the period. Absher Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $24,604,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $23,233,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of 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, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One 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, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $220.00.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric 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 directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ LECO traded down $3.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $216.13. 90,719 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 316,928. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $198.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

Lincoln Electric 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.