Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Short Interest Down 16.1% in July

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 832,500 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the July 15th total of 992,300 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 417,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $219.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during 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 period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded up $1.18 on Friday, hitting $193.46. 242,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 337,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $192.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.32.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its 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. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

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.