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

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the December 31st total of 1,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 589,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Donaldson by 359.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Donaldson by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Donaldson by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Donaldson by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. 82.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DCI. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Donaldson currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of DCI traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.11. 37,806 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,541. The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Donaldson has a 52 week low of $65.60 and a 52 week high of $78.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.56.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

About Donaldson

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.