Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Has $8.44 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,610 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,631 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $8,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $5,623,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ LECO opened at $206.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $222.52. The company has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $191.81 and its 200 day moving average is $193.27.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.