Analysts Set Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Target Price at $218.29

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $218.29.

A number of research analysts have commented on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $187.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.96. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% in the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the first quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.