Bank of New Hampshire Sells 292 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Bank of New Hampshire trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,695 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 92.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the first quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 25,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,834,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 22.6% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 72,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,629,000 after purchasing an additional 13,279 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.5% in the first quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 9,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $201.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.34. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $222.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.