Commerce Bank Purchases New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,252 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,191,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,561,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $656,165,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,141 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,488,000 after buying an additional 4,655 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,677,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $415,155,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,005,000 after acquiring an additional 12,093 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.60 on Monday, reaching $259.80. 124,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The company has a 50-day moving average of $268.47 and a 200-day moving average of $263.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.22 and a 1-year high of $310.00.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. 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 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Profile

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.