Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Price

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective dropped by Stifel Nicolaus from $265.00 to $252.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.92% from the stock’s current price.

LECO has been the subject of several other reports. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.83.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of LECO stock traded down $1.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $242.49. 116,829 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,292. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $252.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $235.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.64. The company has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 40.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 216.1% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,184,000 after acquiring an additional 36,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $261,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,658 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 119,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,804,000 after purchasing an additional 39,700 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,187,000 after buying an additional 147,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.