Brokerages Set Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) PT at $278.00

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $278.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Nordson from $290.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Nordson in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Nordson Price Performance

NDSN opened at $263.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.17. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.00. Nordson has a twelve month low of $208.90 and a twelve month high of $278.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $633.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $630.77 million. Nordson had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.59%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Nordson will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Nordson by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,069,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,603,368,000 after buying an additional 20,164 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Nordson by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,467,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $560,322,000 after buying an additional 395,419 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Nordson by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,235,928 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $498,992,000 after buying an additional 88,095 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,391,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $310,534,000 after purchasing an additional 117,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,012,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $267,438,000 after purchasing an additional 20,273 shares during the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.