Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Cut to $252.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $265.00 to $252.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on LECO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.83.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $243.46 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $235.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $229.98. The firm has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $252.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 40.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.12%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3,700.0% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 82.4% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 3,860.0% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.