Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Price

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $216.00 to $211.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 7.05% from the company’s previous close.

LECO has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.50.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $197.11. The stock had a trading volume of 33,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,006. Lincoln Electric has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $199.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.26.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.