Hancock Whitney Corp Cuts Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 91.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 85,820 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth approximately $514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 20,337.5% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth $715,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 52.1% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 26,764 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,837,000 after acquiring an additional 9,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $385,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LECO. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $220.00.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded down $3.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $216.14. 197,524 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,449. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $198.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.44.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.