Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Grows Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 69.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,674 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,673 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 4.6% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $634,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 193.6% in the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.5% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 11,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $240.64 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148 in the last 90 days. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.50.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.