Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 12.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 405,043 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 58,206 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.72% of Lincoln Electric worth $77,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,345,000 after acquiring an additional 61,640 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 494,464 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $99,155,000 after purchasing an additional 38,206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of LECO traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $189.75. 1,235,288 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 317,667. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $205.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.17.

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.