Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Short Interest Update

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the November 30th total of 1,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 602,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Donaldson Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Donaldson stock opened at $67.35 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.90. Donaldson has a 12-month low of $61.79 and a 12-month high of $78.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Donaldson’s payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the president now owns 30,834 shares in the company, valued at $2,261,057.22. This represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 2,700 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.37, for a total transaction of $198,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,053,112.71. This trade represents a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,495 shares of company stock valued at $695,951. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donaldson

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Donaldson by 5.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 439,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,394,000 after purchasing an additional 23,758 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Donaldson by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 304,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,449,000 after buying an additional 8,154 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Donaldson by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,981,739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $220,380,000 after buying an additional 73,234 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 26.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Donaldson by 33.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,787 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DCI. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

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.