Short Interest in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Rises By 6.8%

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 1,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 492,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insider Activity

In other Donaldson news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president now owns 30,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,261,057.22. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 2,700 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.37, for a total value of $198,099.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,983 shares in the company, valued at $2,053,112.71. This represents a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 167,805 shares of company stock worth $12,310,222. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donaldson

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Donaldson by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Donaldson by 4.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 95,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Donaldson by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 145,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,854,000 after buying an additional 8,032 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Donaldson by 31.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 14,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after buying an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Donaldson by 43.3% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Donaldson Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Donaldson stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $75.49. The company had a trading volume of 131,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,735. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04. Donaldson has a twelve month low of $58.75 and a twelve month high of $78.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

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

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.