Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Short Interest Up 20.7% in February

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 964,600 shares, a growth of 20.7% from the February 13th total of 799,400 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 302,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $190.60. The stock had a trading volume of 391,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 310,608. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $197.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.97.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth $385,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 40,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,727,000 after purchasing an additional 25,578 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $23,233,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

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.