Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 436,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,438,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 1,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 9.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $284.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $267.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.88. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.22 and a 12 month high of $310.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.13 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 31.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total transaction of $232,214.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at $2,560,954.39. This trade represents a 8.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.