Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $241.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $239.00 to $241.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential upside of 1.86% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of LECO stock traded down $2.90 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $236.61. 232,916 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 276,142. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $155.21 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,381,000 after buying an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,377,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 59,080.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 23,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,303,000 after acquiring an additional 23,632 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lincoln Electric

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.