Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Donaldson from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Donaldson in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.67.

Donaldson Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of DCI stock opened at $73.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Donaldson has a fifty-two week low of $57.05 and a fifty-two week high of $78.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.94. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.06. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 29.47%. The firm had revenue of $935.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.12 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Donaldson will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.44%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, CFO Scott J. Robinson sold 83,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.04, for a total transaction of $6,189,744.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,702 shares in the company, valued at $2,791,456.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director James Owens sold 5,210 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $373,765.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,111.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Scott J. Robinson sold 83,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.04, for a total transaction of $6,189,744.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,791,456.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 158,310 shares of company stock valued at $11,614,271. Insiders own 2.58% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donaldson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Donaldson by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,920,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,434,000 after purchasing an additional 367,705 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 1.8% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,832,000 after purchasing an additional 32,964 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its holdings in Donaldson by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,819,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $118,884,000 after purchasing an additional 61,584 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Donaldson by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,691,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,073,000 after buying an additional 75,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Donaldson by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,584,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $103,576,000 after buying an additional 256,994 shares during the period. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Donaldson

Donaldson Company, Inc manufactures and sells filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Mobile Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Life Sciences. Its Mobile Solutions segment provides replacement filters for air and liquid filtration applications, such as air filtration systems; liquid filtration systems for fuel, lube, and hydraulic applications; exhaust and emissions systems and sensors; indicators; and monitoring systems.