Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Sunday morning.

DCI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donaldson has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Donaldson Price Performance

NYSE:DCI opened at $68.49 on Friday. Donaldson has a 52 week low of $65.91 and a 52 week high of $78.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.33. The company has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.06. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.88 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. Donaldson’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,785,992. This trade represents a 34.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Donaldson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,828,000. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Donaldson in the fourth quarter valued at $61,697,000. Capital Counsel LLC NY lifted its holdings in Donaldson by 489.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Counsel LLC NY now owns 656,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,246,000 after buying an additional 545,457 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its position in shares of Donaldson by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,209,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,795,000 after acquiring an additional 367,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Donaldson by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,512,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,878,000 after acquiring an additional 299,302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.