In a report released today, Bryan Blair from Oppenheimer maintained a Buy rating on Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO), with a price target of $95. The company’s shares opened today at $87.90.
Blair said:
“LECO reported 4Q18 adj. EPS of $1.29 vs. our/consensus $1.17/1.20 estimates, with Americas performance (in line) and a favorable tax rate (primary 4Q driver) more than offsetting weak International sales (integration activities) and higher corporate/ other expense. Management noted decelerating core trends in December (influenced by challenging Americas and HPG comps), but demand improvement in January “across several areas.” Although European operations remain a watch item (including continued ALW rationalization through 1H19), we believe LECO’s solid core growth prospects, margin/returns upside (Americas price/cost, increasing ALW synergies), and resulting +HSD/LDD EPS trajectory remain intact. Adding LECO’s differentiated automation story (secular drivers behind >$450M in equipment revenue), balance sheet optionality, and attractive valuation, we maintain our Outperform rating.”
According to TipRanks.com, Blair is a 3-star analyst with an average return of 3.2% and a 60.6% success rate. Blair covers the Industrial Goods sector, focusing on stocks such as Carlisle Companies Incorporated, Watts Water Technologies, and Mueller Water Products.
Currently, the analyst consensus on Lincoln Electric Holdings is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $93.50.
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The company has a one-year high of $97.93 and a one-year low of $72.27. Currently, Lincoln Electric Holdings has an average volume of 294.6K.
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Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. engages in the manufacture of arc welding equipment, consumable welding products and other welding and cutting products. Its welding products include arc welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes and fluxes.
