Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) to Issue $0.71 Quarterly Dividend

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th.

Lincoln Electric has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 29 years. Lincoln Electric has a dividend payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $248.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.94. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $155.21 and a 52-week high of $261.13.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.2% in the first quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 3,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the first quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 6,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by 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.