Paloma Partners Management Co Increases Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 16.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $24,604,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $23,233,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.7 %

LECO opened at $213.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $201.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.93. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LECO. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric 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.