Castleark Management LLC Takes $1.78 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,779,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.5% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,561,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $656,165,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,141 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,488,000 after buying an additional 4,655 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,677,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $415,155,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 23.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,005,000 after acquiring an additional 12,093 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. DA Davidson began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.60 during trading on Monday, hitting $259.80. 124,872 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The stock has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $268.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 12.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.57%.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and automation products. Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the company serves industrial, construction, energy, transportation and other end markets that use fabrication and joining technologies.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding machines, welding consumables such as electrodes and wire, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, robotic welding systems, and related automation solutions.