Savant Capital LLC Buys 4,028 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 160.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 504,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,589,000 after acquiring an additional 98,920 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 365,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,230,000 after purchasing an additional 7,656 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,582,000 after purchasing an additional 29,505 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.8% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 339,975 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,484,000 after purchasing an additional 9,153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.5%

LECO opened at $236.21 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $236.30 and a 200-day moving average of $222.02. The company has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $249.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company 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.