Zacks Research Expects Reduced Earnings for Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Lincoln Electric in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, November 14th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now anticipates that the industrial products company will post earnings of $8.70 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $8.90. The consensus estimate for Lincoln Electric's current full-year earnings is $8.75 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lincoln Electric's Q4 2024 earnings at $1.99 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.08 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.21 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.87 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.42 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.37 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.19 EPS.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS.

LECO has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

LECO stock traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $207.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 248,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,972. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.19.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 65.7% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 62.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,079 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,442,000 after buying an additional 25,082 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,458,387,000 after buying an additional 15,062 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 2,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,034 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

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.