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

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $233.60.

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Barclays boosted their target price on 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 cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $4.21 on Monday, reaching $181.13. 226,675 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,371. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $243.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.60 and a 200-day moving average of $197.29.

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Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 84.3% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,032 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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.