Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Given New $245.00 Price Target at KeyCorp

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its target price upped by KeyCorp from $230.00 to $245.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report 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.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.0 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $213.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Lincoln Electric has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 95.1% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 23,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 11,360 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $575,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 752.2% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 10,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 8,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 508,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,363,000 after acquiring an additional 115,813 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.