Short Interest in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Expands By 6.5%

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the November 30th total of 1,240,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 602,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DCI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DCI stock opened at $67.35 on Thursday. Donaldson has a fifty-two week low of $61.79 and a fifty-two week high of $78.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.90. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Donaldson’s payout ratio is currently 31.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.33, for a total transaction of $314,952.35. Following the sale, the president now owns 30,834 shares in the company, valued at $2,261,057.22. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Willard D. Oberton sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.37, for a total value of $198,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,053,112.71. The trade was a 8.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,495 shares of company stock valued at $695,951 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donaldson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Donaldson by 5.4% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 24,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Donaldson by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 34,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Donaldson by 7.0% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 102,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,319,000 after acquiring an additional 6,734 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the second quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 8.1% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.