Earnest Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV)

Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) by 31.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 397,145 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 95,056 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Dover were worth $70,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its position in Dover by 1.2% in the first quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dover by 2.6% during the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dover by 5.4% during the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dover by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dover by 2.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 84.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DOV shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Dover from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Dover from $187.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Dover from $192.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Dover from $180.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Dover from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.63.

Dover Price Performance

Dover stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $186.47. The company had a trading volume of 930,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,339. Dover Co. has a 1 year low of $127.25 and a 1 year high of $192.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $25.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.13.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.15. Dover had a net margin of 17.58% and a return on equity of 24.94%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Dover Co. will post 9.13 EPS for the current year.

Dover Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Dover’s payout ratio is currently 19.60%.

Dover Company Profile

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.