Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 81.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 494,464 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $210,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $242,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 200.5% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 65.7% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 63,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,943,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $216.59. 27,795 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 318,921. The company’s 50-day moving average is $191.84 and its 200-day moving average is $197.58. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.14.

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. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’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 value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. StockNews.com downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.67.

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.