California State Teachers Retirement System Has $14.64 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,337 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.10% of Lincoln Electric worth $14,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% in 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 last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $191.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $194.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.67. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.51% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LECO. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $213.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.43.

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.