EFG International AG Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

EFG International AG purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,131,000. Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $252,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $361,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,779,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on LECO shares. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

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

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

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.