Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth approximately $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock opened at $235.02 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $238.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.44.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Roth Capital assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.