Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Raised 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 research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on DCI. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of DCI opened at $70.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Donaldson has a 12 month low of $65.60 and a 12 month high of $78.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.46.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.88 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In related 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 value of $946,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth $415,000. Jensen Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Donaldson by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 77,110 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,193,000 after acquiring an additional 10,070 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in Donaldson by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 7,552 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Donaldson by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 37,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in Donaldson by 181.6% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 32,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 21,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

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.