Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 828,000 shares, a drop of 18.0% from the October 31st total of 1,010,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 284,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $218.48 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $200.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.24. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.