79,997 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Purchased by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 79,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,828,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 118.8% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of LECO stock traded up $2.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $259.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

About Lincoln Electric

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.