Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $238.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its target price decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $241.00 to $238.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LECO. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an underweight rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $225.13 on Friday. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.23 and a 200-day moving average of $220.22. The company has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,381,000 after buying an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $925,000. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $13,377,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $2,110,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.