Lincoln Electric’s (LECO) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an underweight rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $225.13 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $1,055,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 4.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 119,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,639,000 after buying an additional 5,133 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 6.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $131,179,000 after buying an additional 58,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.