Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Reaches New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $78.82 and last traded at $78.73, with a volume of 69287 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $77.45.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Donaldson’s payout ratio is 31.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DCI. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Donaldson Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.33.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.06. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.47% and a net margin of 11.54%. The business had revenue of $935.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.12 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Amy C. Becker sold 14,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.89, for a total transaction of $1,056,905.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,015,313.52. This trade represents a 25.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Tod E. Carpenter sold 30,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.69, for a total value of $2,247,502.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 256,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,662,575.98. This trade represents a 10.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 167,805 shares of company stock worth $12,310,222. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donaldson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in shares of Donaldson in the 1st quarter valued at $660,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 2.6% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 147,777 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,575,000 after buying an additional 3,792 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 2.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 33,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,411,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 46.2% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 13,674 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 4,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in Donaldson by 1,554.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 146,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,473,000 after acquiring an additional 137,498 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

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.