Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $218.91.

DOV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Dover from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Dover from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Dover from $196.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Dover from $236.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Dover in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dover

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of DOV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dover in the 4th quarter valued at $316,228,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Dover during the 4th quarter valued at $99,017,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Dover by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,182,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $409,530,000 after acquiring an additional 524,092 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Dover by 352.9% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 385,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,260,000 after acquiring an additional 300,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Dover by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,726,523 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $323,896,000 after acquiring an additional 245,535 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.46% of the company’s stock.

Dover Price Performance

NYSE:DOV opened at $192.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $196.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.24. Dover has a 12-month low of $166.20 and a 12-month high of $222.31.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20. Dover had a return on equity of 21.03% and a net margin of 32.95%. On average, analysts anticipate that Dover will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Dover Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Dover’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.59%.

About Dover

Dover Corporation provides equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services worldwide. The company's Engineered Products segment provides various equipment, component, software, solution, and services that are used in vehicle aftermarket, waste handling, industrial automation, aerospace and defense, industrial winch and hoist, and fluid dispensing end-market.