Trillium Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Trillium Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 36,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,574,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,811,000. CM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,789,000. West Family Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $667,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LECO. DA Davidson assumed 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $276.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $265.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.22 and a 52-week high of $310.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 12.35%.The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 31.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total value of $232,214.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,560,954.39. This represents a 8.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln Electric

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.