Washington Capital Management Inc. Buys New Stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDSN. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Nordson during the fourth quarter worth about $4,553,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Nordson by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 123,619 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,866,000 after buying an additional 4,963 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Nordson during the fourth quarter worth about $372,000. Ossiam grew its stake in Nordson by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 5,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Nordson by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,938 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company's stock.

Nordson Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NDSN opened at $214.76 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $192.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.07. Nordson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $165.03 and a fifty-two week high of $266.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.06. Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $682.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. Nordson's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Nordson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDSN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of Nordson from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Nordson from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $219.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $253.17.

Nordson Company Profile

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions.

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