Boston Trust Walden Corp Boosts Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 339,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 9,153 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $70,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,653 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $232.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $249.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $239.39 and a 200 day moving average of $213.47.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LECO. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.33.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148 over the last three months. 2.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.