Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Short Interest Update

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a decrease of 10.8% from the September 30th total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 278,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $197.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $189.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $199.49. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 31.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

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.