Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Bought by Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,766 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric accounts for about 1.8% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.35% of Lincoln Electric worth $37,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $204.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $189.75 and its 200-day moving average is $193.68. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

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.