Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Up 1.3 %

DCI stock opened at $69.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. Donaldson has a fifty-two week low of $62.77 and a fifty-two week high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.88 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Donaldson will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total transaction of $946,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,992. The trade was a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Donaldson by 2.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,981,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $220,380,000 after acquiring an additional 73,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Donaldson by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,448,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $180,522,000 after purchasing an additional 118,156 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in Donaldson by 1.8% during the 2nd 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Donaldson by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $93,770,000 after purchasing an additional 153,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Donaldson by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 754,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,964,000 after buying an additional 117,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Donaldson Company Profile

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.