Councilmark Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Councilmark Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,943,000. Lincoln Electric makes up about 1.4% of Councilmark Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $3.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 347,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,048. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $197.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.71.

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.