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

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 1,320,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 492,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity at Donaldson

In other news, Director James Owens sold 5,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $373,765.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,788 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,111.12. The trade was a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Amy C. Becker sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.89, for a total transaction of $1,056,905.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,368 shares in the company, valued at $3,015,313.52. This represents a 25.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,805 shares of company stock worth $12,310,222 over the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Donaldson

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Donaldson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,288,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Donaldson by 16.6% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,331,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,453,000 after buying an additional 190,024 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Donaldson by 91.4% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 370,756 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,531,000 after buying an additional 177,078 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Donaldson by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,770,000 after acquiring an additional 153,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Donaldson by 1,554.0% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 146,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,473,000 after purchasing an additional 137,498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Donaldson Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DCI traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.49. The stock had a trading volume of 131,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,735. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.04. Donaldson has a 12-month low of $58.75 and a 12-month high of $78.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.98 and its 200-day moving average is $73.27.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $935.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $941.12 million. Donaldson had a return on equity of 29.47% and a net margin of 11.54%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Donaldson will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Donaldson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

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.