Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.71

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.71 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th.

Lincoln Electric has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 29 years. Lincoln Electric has a payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lincoln Electric to earn $10.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.6%.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $248.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.94. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $155.21 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LECO. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth about $49,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LECO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.50.

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.