Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Short Interest Update

Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a decrease of 16.7% from the March 15th total of 1,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 373,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Nordson Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $180.81 on Monday. Nordson has a 52 week low of $165.03 and a 52 week high of $279.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 16.93%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nordson will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the 4th quarter valued at $142,670,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Nordson in the fourth quarter valued at $74,005,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Nordson by 676.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 246,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,539,000 after buying an additional 214,594 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Nordson by 19,089.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 141,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,606,000 after acquiring an additional 141,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Nordson by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 693,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $145,135,000 after purchasing an additional 111,538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NDSN shares. Loop Capital upgraded Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.20.

About Nordson

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.