Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of LECO opened at $241.14 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $244.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.