Parcion Private Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 1,297 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Parcion Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.7%

LECO opened at $238.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $238.90 and a 200 day moving average of $215.64. The company has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $249.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 33.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 in the last quarter. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. It offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, and specialty gas regulators, and education solutions, as well as a portfolio of automated solutions for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business in the United States.