Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Short Interest Up 6.8% in January

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the target of a significant 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. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 589,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DCI traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.23. 91,822 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 491,968. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.56. Donaldson has a twelve month low of $65.60 and a twelve month high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released 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 company had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.88 million. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. Donaldson’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Insider Activity at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total transaction of $946,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,992. This represents a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Donaldson by 2.5% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Donaldson by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,448,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $180,522,000 after purchasing an additional 118,156 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Donaldson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,697,000. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its stake in Donaldson by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 561,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,838,000 after purchasing an additional 48,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Donaldson by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 478,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,264,000 after purchasing an additional 9,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on DCI. StockNews.com lowered Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

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.