Park Edge Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Park Edge Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 670,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric accounts for about 47.8% of Park Edge Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Park Edge Advisors LLC owned approximately 1.18% of Lincoln Electric worth $171,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $247,000. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,599,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth $11,888,000. Finally, Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $185.67. 138,350 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 484,065. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $205.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.13 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on LECO shares. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.29.

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.