Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 17.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.13% of Lincoln Electric worth $14,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after buying an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 44.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 84.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at $1,575,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $209.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.16. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.54.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.