Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $185.75.

A number of research firms recently commented on DOV. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Dover from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Dover from $185.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Dover from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dover from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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.

Dover Price Performance

DOV opened at $184.95 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.91. Dover has a 52-week low of $127.25 and a 52-week high of $185.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. Dover had a net margin of 17.28% and a return on equity of 25.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Dover will post 9.1 EPS for the current year.

Dover Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Dover’s payout ratio is 19.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total value of $1,060,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,164,699.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.01, for a total value of $3,001,014.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,909 shares in the company, valued at $3,897,406.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total value of $1,060,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,164,699.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,910 shares of company stock worth $4,318,059. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Dover during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Dover in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Dover during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Dover by 783.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Dover in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 84.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Dover

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.