Zacks Research Forecasts Lower Earnings for Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) – Analysts at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 EPS estimates for Lincoln Electric in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, November 14th. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now expects that the industrial products company will post earnings of $8.70 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $8.90. The consensus estimate for Lincoln Electric’s current full-year earnings is $8.75 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lincoln Electric’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.99 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.08 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.21 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.87 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.42 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.37 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.19 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $203.77 on Monday. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $195.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after acquiring an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after acquiring an additional 494,464 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares during the period. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at about $24,604,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

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.