Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.08 EPS

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LECO traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $228.28. 161,035 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,565. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric has a 1-year low of $156.80 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $249.06 and a 200-day moving average of $219.38.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $216.63.

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.