Dover (NYSE:DOV) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dover (NYSE:DOV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Dover from $187.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Dover from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Dover from $185.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on Dover from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Dover from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $185.75.

Dover Price Performance

DOV stock opened at $180.04 on Friday. Dover has a 1 year low of $127.25 and a 1 year high of $181.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $172.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.75. The firm has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.27.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Dover had a return on equity of 25.04% and a net margin of 17.28%. Dover’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dover will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dover Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Dover’s payout ratio is 19.60%.

Insider Transactions at Dover

In other news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.01, for a total transaction of $3,001,014.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,897,406.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 18,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,897,406.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,164,699.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,910 shares of company stock worth $4,318,059 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dover

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DOV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Dover in the 4th quarter valued at $175,275,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Dover by 160.2% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,428,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $199,319,000 after buying an additional 879,533 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Dover by 2,173.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 817,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,997,000 after buying an additional 781,189 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Dover by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,689,136 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $567,426,000 after buying an additional 492,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Dover by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,390,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $333,522,000 after buying an additional 226,646 shares during the last quarter. 84.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.