GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $15,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $193.71. 167,747 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,665. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.63 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $189.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.71.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.