Jupiter Topco LLC Invests $49.88 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 187,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,878,000. Jupiter Topco LLC owned about 0.34% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at $4,500,000. EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $396,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at $38,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $1,131,000. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at about $252,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

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

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.57%.

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.