Federated Hermes Inc. Reduces Holdings in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,413 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,048 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Donaldson were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Donaldson in the fourth quarter valued at $65,828,000. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Donaldson in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,697,000. Dudley & Shanley Inc. lifted its holdings in Donaldson by 5,118.4% in the 4th quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 268,750 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,100,000 after purchasing an additional 263,600 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the 4th quarter worth about $17,471,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Donaldson during the fourth quarter worth about $13,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.81% of the company’s stock.

Donaldson Price Performance

DCI opened at $63.28 on Wednesday. Donaldson Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.45 and a 1 year high of $78.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Donaldson (NYSE:DCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $870.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.32 million. Donaldson had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 29.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Donaldson Company, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Donaldson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Donaldson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Owens sold 18,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.02, for a total value of $1,159,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,255,656.92. This represents a 48.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas R. Scalf sold 28,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total value of $1,972,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 28,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,961,279.48. This trade represents a 50.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,700 shares of company stock valued at $5,164,799 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Donaldson from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut Donaldson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.33.

Donaldson 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.