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 report published on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on DCI. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Donaldson has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Performance

Shares of DCI opened at $71.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.45 and a 200-day moving average of $72.60. The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.06. Donaldson has a one year low of $64.06 and a one year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. Donaldson’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,785,992. This trade represents 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 hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DCI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Donaldson by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 123,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,804,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Donaldson in the second quarter worth $385,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Donaldson in the second quarter valued at about $722,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Donaldson by 3.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 32,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Donaldson by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 173,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,393,000 after buying an additional 14,665 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.