Short Interest in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Increases By 6.8%

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 589,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DCI. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Donaldson Stock Performance

Donaldson stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.11. 37,806 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,541. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.06. Donaldson has a one year low of $65.60 and a one year high of $78.95.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The company had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $888.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Donaldson by 359.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Donaldson in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Donaldson by 52.0% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Donaldson by 72.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Donaldson by 89.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 781 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is 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.