Boston Trust Walden Corp Cuts Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 9.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 308,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 31,236 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $72,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth $354,063,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $323,167,000 after purchasing an additional 83,035 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at about $141,550,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,691,000 after buying an additional 486,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $265.00 to $252.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.83.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $246.47 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $252.00. 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 market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.55.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

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

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.