12,562 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Bought by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth $1,431,181,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $956,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,077 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $415,155,000. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,811,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,914,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.60 on Monday, hitting $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 fifty day moving average price of $268.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.22 and a 52-week high of $310.00. The company has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Lincoln Electric Company 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.