Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $252.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $265.00 to $252.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.07% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.83.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $242.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $252.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $235.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.06.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LECO. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,195 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 17.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 11.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 256,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,597,000 after buying an additional 26,898 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 14.5% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 13,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 260 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, 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.