Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $241.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $239.00 to $241.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on LECO. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an underweight rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.94. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $155.21 and a 52 week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 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.