EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. Sells 67,764 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lowered its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,679,319 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 67,764 shares during the period. Lincoln Electric makes up about 4.1% of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $514,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. State Street Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,155,000 after purchasing an additional 38,206 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $209.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $203.12 and a 200 day moving average of $195.97.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The business’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 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.