Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.08 EPS

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $229.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $248.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.50. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $156.80 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.63.

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.