Amalgamated Bank Lowers Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 814 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,691,000 after purchasing an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,050,000 after purchasing an additional 65,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $213.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $196.26 and its 200 day moving average is $193.55. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.40.

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.