Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,674 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,034 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 20,337.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Robotti Robert grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Robotti Robert now owns 49,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,671,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 226,846 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,946,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $5.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $213.52. The company had a trading volume of 418,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,021. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $197.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.