Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $211.40.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $219.52 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $225.25. The stock has a market cap of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $203.01 and a 200-day moving average of $195.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

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.