Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $225.29.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $196.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $200.10 and a 200 day moving average of $223.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.15.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% during the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.