Dover (NYSE:DOV) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Dover (NYSE:DOV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on DOV. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Dover from $217.00 to $211.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Dover in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Dover from $208.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Dover from $213.00 to $205.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Dover from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.18.

Dover Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DOV opened at $174.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $193.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.56. Dover has a 1 year low of $168.20 and a 1 year high of $222.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

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

Dover Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Dover’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dover

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Dover by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,235,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,045,772,000 after purchasing an additional 57,453 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Dover by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,214,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,191,531,000 after purchasing an additional 56,149 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Dover by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,303,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $618,068,000 after purchasing an additional 74,541 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Dover by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,118,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $585,010,000 after buying an additional 32,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $409,530,000 after buying an additional 524,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.46% of the company’s stock.

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.