Veratis Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Veratis Advisors Inc. 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 32,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,709,000. Lincoln Electric accounts for 6.2% of Veratis Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Veratis Advisors Inc. owned about 0.06% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,561,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $656,165,000 after buying an additional 5,354,141 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $956,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,077 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $415,155,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,175,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $44,811,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.38.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lincoln Electric 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.