Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $250.20.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NDSN shares. BNP Paribas lowered Nordson from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $219.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Nordson Trading Up 2.1%

Nordson stock traded up $4.25 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $205.35. The company had a trading volume of 313,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,299. Nordson has a 12-month low of $165.03 and a 12-month high of $274.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $192.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.90.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nordson will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Nordson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordson

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDSN. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 7,314 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Nordson by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Nordson by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 201 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nordson by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 3,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nordson by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company's stock.

About Nordson

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.