Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $230.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ LECO traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $198.62. 189,394 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 261,261. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.24. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LECO. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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.