Hancock Whitney Corp Has $1.13 Million Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,050 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,659 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 35,986 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,746,000 after buying an additional 5,951 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 123.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,904 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 32,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,086,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $184.00. The stock had a trading volume of 574,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,467. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business's 50 day moving average is $189.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $238.47.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. Analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% 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.