Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a growth of 15.5% from the January 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 594,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of 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 issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Donaldson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Performance

DCI stock traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $68.49. The company had a trading volume of 668,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 472,069. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.06. Donaldson has a one year low of $65.91 and a one year high of $78.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.29.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $900.10 million for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s payout ratio is 31.40%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 26,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,785,992. The trade was a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCI. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Donaldson by 52.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.