Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Lowered to $252.00 at Robert W. Baird

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its target price decreased by Robert W. Baird from $257.00 to $252.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an underweight rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $225.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $336,627,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,479,000 after buying an additional 424,831 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth $34,850,000. CM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 25,909.0% during the fourth quarter. CM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 178,942 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,040,000 after acquiring an additional 178,254 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after acquiring an additional 174,278 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.