Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 883,000 shares, a drop of 5.0% from the December 15th total of 929,600 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 285,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $194.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 455,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 268,382. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The business's 50 day moving average price is $200.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.99.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 earned $2.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LECO. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $230.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $210,831,000 after acquiring an additional 494,464 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,604,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.