Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of 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 increased their price target for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price objective 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $257.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $216.22 and a 52 week high of $310.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $268.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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 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 company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. 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%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth $656,165,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $415,155,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 23.2% in 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 buying an additional 12,093 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,175,000 after acquiring an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 18,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,531,000 after acquiring an additional 4,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.