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

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, an increase of 14.3% from the September 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 295,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This 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 at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,458,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,062 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,129,000 after buying an additional 121,914 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 38,206 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 226,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,946,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $193.24. 9,294 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,132. Lincoln Electric has a 1 year low of $164.00 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $188.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.97. The stock has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LECO. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.67.

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.