Yousif Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $34,850,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after acquiring an additional 174,278 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,396,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 411.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 191,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,856,000 after buying an additional 154,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,929,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $227.93 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.21 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $249.06 and its 200-day moving average is $219.38. The firm has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Profile

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.