Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $250.53 and last traded at $248.08, with a volume of 21073 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $247.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $285.00 target price on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.71.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.33% and a net margin of 12.56%.Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 32.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 82.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3,860.0% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.