Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,810,000 shares, a growth of 36.1% from the December 31st total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 794,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dover

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its position in Dover by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 6,033 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dover by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Dover by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 47,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,988,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Dover by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dover in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors own 84.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Dover from $208.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Dover from $196.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Dover from $205.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Dover from $236.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Dover from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $227.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dover has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.91.

Dover Stock Performance

DOV stock opened at $203.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.34. Dover has a 52 week low of $148.45 and a 52 week high of $214.57. The stock has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20. Dover had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 23.61%. Research analysts anticipate that Dover will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dover Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Dover’s dividend payout ratio is 18.43%.

About Dover

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market.