Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New $10.82 Million Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 40,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,820,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,162,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,382,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,767,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $281.23 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $267.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $265.79. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.22 and a 52 week high of $310.00. 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 $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders 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 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total transaction of $232,214.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,560,954.39. The trade was a 8.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.