Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Given New $230.00 Price Target at KeyCorp

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective boosted by KeyCorp from $210.00 to $230.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $206.10 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $194.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.19. The company has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 65.7% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 63,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $1,943,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,442,000 after purchasing an additional 25,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,458,387,000 after purchasing an additional 15,062 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.