Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New $4.50 Million Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 17,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,500,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at $1,431,181,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $956,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,077 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $415,155,000. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,811,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth $21,914,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.60 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $259.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The stock has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.98. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.22 and a twelve month high of $310.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $268.47 and a 200-day moving average of $263.38.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and automation products. Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the company serves industrial, construction, energy, transportation and other end markets that use fabrication and joining technologies.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding machines, welding consumables such as electrodes and wire, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, robotic welding systems, and related automation solutions.