KeyCorp Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target boosted by KeyCorp from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $210.53 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln Electric

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.