Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) Short Interest Up 52.5% in August

Dover Co. (NYSE:DOV) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, a growth of 52.5% from the August 15th total of 1,790,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 946,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Dover from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Dover in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Dover from $192.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.63.

Dover Price Performance

Dover stock opened at $185.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.53. Dover has a 1 year low of $127.25 and a 1 year high of $192.31. The company has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.22.

Dover (NYSE:DOV) last announced 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 return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 17.58%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Dover will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Dover Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Dover’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Dover’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dover news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 14,818 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $2,593,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,156,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Dover news, CFO Brad M. Cerepak sold 14,818 shares of Dover stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $2,593,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,156,700. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Ivonne M. Cabrera sold 1,220 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total transaction of $225,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 47,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,706,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,383 shares of company stock worth $8,169,883 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dover

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DOV. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dover in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Dover by 4,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Dover in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Dover in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Dover by 208.0% in the first quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 84.46% of the stock is 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.