Lincoln Electric (LECO) Upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) was upgraded by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. Barclays began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. FBR & Co reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.57.

Shares of Lincoln Electric (LECO) opened at $92.39 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $75.86 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $6,080.00, a PE ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.01). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 28.97% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $669.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,471,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $503,862,000 after acquiring an additional 88,871 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,016,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $461,973,000 after acquiring an additional 48,850 shares during the period. Alecta Pensionsforsakring Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alecta Pensionsforsakring Omsesidigt now owns 1,300,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $119,184,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,270,096 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,964,000 after acquiring an additional 59,464 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,099,558 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,807,000 after acquiring an additional 27,495 shares during the period. 63.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc is a manufacturer of welding, cutting and brazing products. The Company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding and The Harris Products Group. The Americas Welding segment includes welding operations in North and South America. The International Welding segment primarily includes welding operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Analyst Recommendations for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO)