Impax Asset Management Group plc Invests $1.14 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,140,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 20.1% during the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,131,000 after buying an additional 3,658 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 195.2% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,187,000 after buying an additional 147,483 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,349,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 153.1% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 58,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,159,000 after acquiring an additional 35,682 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.5%

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $225.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $249.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.34.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.14 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.83%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.