Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Rating Increased 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 Thursday morning.

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

Donaldson Stock Up 0.8 %

DCI opened at $72.28 on Thursday. Donaldson has a twelve month low of $64.06 and a twelve month high of $78.95. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.64. 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 (NYSE:DCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The company had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Donaldson’s payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Donaldson news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Donaldson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,697,000. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donaldson by 5,118.4% in the 4th quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 268,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,100,000 after purchasing an additional 263,600 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the fourth quarter worth $17,471,000. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Donaldson by 1,554.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 146,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,473,000 after purchasing an additional 137,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $180,522,000 after buying an additional 118,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.