Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 405,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 58,206 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $77,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LECO opened at $189.75 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered 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 note on Wednesday, September 4th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.17.

Lincoln Electric 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.