Analysts Set Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Target Price at $239.33

Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $239.3333.

Several research firms recently weighed in on LECO. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Capital assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $279.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $354,063,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $323,167,000 after acquiring an additional 83,035 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $255,597,000 after acquiring an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth $141,550,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,691,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.0%

NASDAQ LECO opened at $236.39 on Monday. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $239.23 and its 200 day moving average is $211.53.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

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.