Lincoln Electric (LECO) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Thursday

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) is set to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect Lincoln Electric to post earnings of $2.17 per share for the quarter. Individual interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Lincoln Electric to post $10 EPS for the current fiscal year and $10 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $235.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $13.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $155.21 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.86.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LECO. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

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.