631 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Acquired by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after buying an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,345,000 after acquiring an additional 61,640 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after acquiring an additional 494,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,155,000 after acquiring an additional 38,206 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $189.89 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $205.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.75. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.17.

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.