Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $178.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) had its target price reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $220.00 to $178.00 in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company's stock.

LECO has been the topic of several other research reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $0.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $177.38. The stock had a trading volume of 236,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,308. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $242.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $193.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.78. The stock has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.