Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a growth of 15.5% from the January 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 594,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donaldson

In other Donaldson news, Director Trudy A. Rautio sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.60, for a total value of $946,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,785,992. This represents a 34.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donaldson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Donaldson by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Donaldson in the third quarter worth $41,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Donaldson by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 595 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 82.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Donaldson Stock Performance

Shares of DCI stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.82. The stock had a trading volume of 650,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock's 50 day moving average is $69.36 and its 200 day moving average is $72.22. Donaldson has a twelve month low of $65.99 and a twelve month high of $78.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.06.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.07% and a net margin of 11.56%. The firm had revenue of $900.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $888.88 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Donaldson will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 13th. Donaldson's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DCI. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Donaldson from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Donaldson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Donaldson from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Donaldson presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.00.

About Donaldson

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.