Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at $3,511,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at $976,000. Finally, Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $653,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $259.80. 124,872 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,812. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $268.47 and its 200-day moving average is $263.38.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 31.57%.

About Lincoln Electric

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.