Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 118.8% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. 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

NASDAQ LECO traded up $2.60 on Monday, reaching $259.80. The company had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The stock 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $268.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. 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 released 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 net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric 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.