Elios Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 5,201 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,201 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $518,210,000 after acquiring an additional 891,111 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $24,604,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $23,233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of LECO opened at $219.94 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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 raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective 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 given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.