Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $168.29 and last traded at $172.02, with a volume of 459602 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $179.43.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 4.1 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $197.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at about $241,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 199,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,213,000 after acquiring an additional 15,745 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.