Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a decline of 10.8% from the September 30th total of 1,200,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 278,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $4.70 on Thursday, reaching $192.56. 624,204 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,071. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $189.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 33.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

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.