Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Cut to $211.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target reduced by Stifel Nicolaus from $216.00 to $211.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $197.27 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.33. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Elios Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth $999,000. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,042,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $499,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.