Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Raised to $241.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $239.00 to $241.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

LECO has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an underweight rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $236.61 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric has a one year low of $155.21 and a one year high of $261.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $248.31 and its 200 day moving average is $217.38. The company has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $11,888,000. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $307,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $214,000. 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.