William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys New Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 506,862 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,577,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.93% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at $444,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth $17,907,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at $224,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth about $5,526,000. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded up $2.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $259.80. The stock had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.38. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.22.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and automation products. Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the company serves industrial, construction, energy, transportation and other end markets that use fabrication and joining technologies.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding machines, welding consumables such as electrodes and wire, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, robotic welding systems, and related automation solutions.