Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 2,766 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,766 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric comprises about 1.8% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $37,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after buying an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,691,000 after buying an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,050,000 after buying an additional 65,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $204.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $222.52.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.