Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stake in Nordson Corporation $NDSN

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 338,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,319 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Nordson were worth $72,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NDSN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 156.2% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,019,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,685,000 after purchasing an additional 621,734 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in Nordson by 118.5% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 336,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after acquiring an additional 182,305 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Nordson in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,125,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nordson by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,043,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,536,000 after acquiring an additional 142,991 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Nordson in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,827,000. 72.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NDSN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nordson in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Nordson from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Nordson in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Nordson in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.75.

Nordson Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDSN opened at $228.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average is $223.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.41. Nordson Corporation has a 12-month low of $165.03 and a 12-month high of $266.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.96.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $646.86 million for the quarter. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 16.34%. Research analysts expect that Nordson Corporation will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 41.21%.

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.