Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Price

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $216.00 to $211.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the industrial products company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' target price indicates a potential upside of 6.96% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on LECO. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $229.50.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $1.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $197.27. 200,084 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 212,284. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.33. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at $24,604,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $23,233,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.