Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires 11,613 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 153.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 11,613 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elios Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $999,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 47,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,088,000 after buying an additional 8,819 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $216.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.89%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric 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.