Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) Stock Price

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Robert W. Baird from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Donaldson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Donaldson from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.67.

Donaldson Stock Up 0.3%

DCI traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 743,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,859. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Donaldson has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.95. The stock's 50-day moving average is $66.25 and its 200-day moving average is $68.94.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $940.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $936.02 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. The business's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Donaldson will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from Donaldson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Donaldson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.58%.

Insider Transactions at Donaldson

In other news, Director James Owens sold 18,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total transaction of $1,159,774.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,246 shares in the company, valued at $1,255,656.92. This trade represents a 48.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 28,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $1,972,770.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 28,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,961,279.48. The trade was a 50.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Donaldson by 75.3% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,330,602 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $223,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,120 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Donaldson in the 4th quarter valued at $65,828,000. Capital Counsel LLC NY increased its holdings in Donaldson by 489.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Counsel LLC NY now owns 656,957 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $44,246,000 after acquiring an additional 545,457 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its holdings in Donaldson by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 2,209,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $148,795,000 after acquiring an additional 367,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new stake in Donaldson in the 1st quarter valued at $23,147,000. 82.81% of the stock is currently owned by 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.