Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $1.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $229.16. The stock had a trading volume of 116,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,228. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $249.06 and a 200 day moving average of $219.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a one year low of $156.80 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 30.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.63.

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.