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

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of 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 volume of 589,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on DCI. StockNews.com downgraded Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Donaldson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of DCI stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 64,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,943. 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 one year low of $65.60 and a one year high of $78.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.56.

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

Donaldson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson’s payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of Donaldson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total value of $946,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,992. The trade was a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 73,234 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Donaldson by 5.1% during 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 buying an additional 118,156 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the 4th quarter valued at $61,697,000. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its stake in shares of Donaldson by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 561,818 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,838,000 after acquiring an additional 48,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Donaldson by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 478,487 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,264,000 after acquiring an additional 9,827 shares during the period. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Donaldson Company Profile

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.