Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Short Interest Down 5.9% in July

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,750,000 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the June 30th total of 1,860,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 548,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DCI opened at $74.85 on Thursday. Donaldson has a 12 month low of $57.05 and a 12 month high of $78.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.48.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.08. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $927.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $915.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Donaldson’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

Insider Activity at Donaldson

In related news, CFO Scott J. Robinson sold 37,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total value of $2,668,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,702 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,710.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donaldson

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Donaldson by 83.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 382,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,014,000 after acquiring an additional 174,193 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Donaldson by 21.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 110,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,245,000 after buying an additional 19,670 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Donaldson by 254.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after buying an additional 16,071 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Donaldson by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,816,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $184,045,000 after buying an additional 42,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donaldson during the 1st quarter worth about $933,000. Institutional investors own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on DCI shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Donaldson from $80.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Raymond James initiated coverage on Donaldson in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Donaldson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

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.