Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $307.22.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $262.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $272.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.83. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $216.22 and a 52-week high of $310.00. The company has a market cap of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 12.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.5% during the second 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 period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,824,077 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,700,000. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,811,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 72.1% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 800,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $199,395,000 after acquiring an additional 335,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and industrial automation products. The company serves manufacturers, fabricators, construction companies, maintenance and repair operations, utilities, and other industrial customers.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding equipment, welding consumables such as electrodes and welding wire, plasma-cutting systems, welding accessories, and related safety products. Lincoln Electric also provides automated and robotic welding systems, engineered solutions, training, and technical support.