Acadian Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,122,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,680,769,000 after acquiring an additional 52,443 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Nordson by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 942,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,764,000 after purchasing an additional 88,966 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nordson in the fourth quarter worth $158,948,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Nordson by 2.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,689,000 after buying an additional 11,809 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 1,579.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 347,371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,762,000 after buying an additional 326,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ NDSN opened at $255.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $245.33 and its 200 day moving average is $250.04. Nordson Co. has a twelve month low of $208.91 and a twelve month high of $279.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $661.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $656.49 million. Nordson had a net margin of 17.75% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.35 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nordson Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were given a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDSN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Nordson from $272.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.40.

Nordson Company Profile

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions.