Man Group plc Invests $10.63 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Man Group 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 300,616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,627,000. Man Group plc owned about 0.55% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 40.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,561,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $656,165,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354,141 shares during the period. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $956,360,000 after buying an additional 3,824,077 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $415,155,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,700,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,175,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.0%

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $259.80. 124,872 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,812. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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