Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 9,974 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 10.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 106,746 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,974 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $22,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $354,063,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $323,167,000 after buying an additional 83,035 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $141,550,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 581,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $120,573,000 after acquiring an additional 45,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24.4% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 504,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,589,000 after acquiring an additional 98,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price target on Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of 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 report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $238.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.16. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.12%.

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.