Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Hits New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $168.29 and last traded at $172.02, with a volume of 459602 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $179.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 4.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.68, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $195.15 and a 200-day moving average of $197.43.

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

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Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,050,157,000 after acquiring an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,691,000 after buying an additional 31,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $218,050,000 after buying an additional 65,154 shares in the last quarter. 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.