Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Buys 437 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric comprises approximately 1.2% of Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $195.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $222.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $186.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.91.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LECO. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric 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.