Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on LECO. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.55 on Friday, hitting $184.21. The stock had a trading volume of 382,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,825. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $238.47. The business's fifty day moving average price is $190.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.51. 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 stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $499,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $496,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.