Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $78.05 and last traded at $78.02, with a volume of 231144 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on DCI. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Donaldson has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Donaldson Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.07.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last posted 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 business had revenue of $935.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $941.12 million. Analysts anticipate that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.16, for a total value of $182,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,072,915.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.16, for a total value of $182,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,072,915.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.33, for a total transaction of $314,952.35. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 30,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,261,057.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 167,805 shares of company stock worth $12,310,222. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new stake in Donaldson during the first quarter valued at about $660,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 2.6% during the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 147,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,575,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 21.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 110,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,245,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 254.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after acquiring an additional 16,071 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 2.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.