Legal & General Group Plc Buys New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 76,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,247,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.14% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,561,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $656,165,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,141 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $956,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,077 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $415,155,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,175,000 after buying an additional 6,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,811,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. UBS Group started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target 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 given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $259.80. 124,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $268.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $216.22 and a one year 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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