Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO – Get Rating) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $164.25.

LECO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $174.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $149.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.4 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $160.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.83. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $118.17 and a twelve month high of $176.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $166.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.63. The firm has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $930.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.20 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 52.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $96,738,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 359.8% in the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 477,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,009,000 after acquiring an additional 373,730 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,859,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $395,604,000 after buying an additional 302,002 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 730,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,604,000 after buying an additional 184,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 817,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $118,072,000 after acquiring an additional 144,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.25% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

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Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture of arc welding equipment, consumable welding products and other welding and cutting products. Its welding products include arc welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes and fluxes.