Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Makes New $690,000 Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 19,520 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $899,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $417,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth about $1,107,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth about $134,577,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $444,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock traded up $2.60 on Monday, reaching $259.80. The company had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $268.47 and its 200 day moving average is $263.38. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.22 and a 1 year high of $310.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 12.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and automation products. Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the company serves industrial, construction, energy, transportation and other end markets that use fabrication and joining technologies.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding machines, welding consumables such as electrodes and wire, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, robotic welding systems, and related automation solutions.