Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Raised to $250.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target upped by KeyCorp from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $222.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $225.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 75.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.