Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.71 (NASDAQ:LECO)

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.71 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th.

Lincoln Electric has increased its dividend by an average of 9.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. Lincoln Electric has a dividend payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lincoln Electric to earn $10.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.6%.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.2 %

LECO stock opened at $238.36 on Friday. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $155.21 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.94. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 24,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,230,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 139,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,306,000 after acquiring an additional 3,203 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,982,000 after acquiring an additional 16,544 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 43,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,380,000 after acquiring an additional 5,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $11,950,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.