Donaldson Company Earnings Preview

Watch Donaldson Company's (NYSE: DCI  ) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, August 29. Donaldson Company manufactures and distributes filtration systems and replacement parts. Its product mix includes air and liquid filtration systems and exhaust and emission control products.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Donaldson Company, with seven of 11 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Donaldson Company as much as competitor Met-Pro overall. Two out of two analysts rate Met-Pro a buy compared to four of 11 for Donaldson Company. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $619.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 20.2% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.80 per share. Estimates range from $0.76 to $0.82.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 89.2% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars, with 90.9% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Donaldson Company, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 46 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Donaldson Company, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Donaldson Company's profit has risen year over year by an average of 60% over the past five quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters:

Quarter	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q4
Gross Margin	35.2%	35.3%	35.0%	36.3%
Operating Margin	14.0%	12.6%	13.9%	14.5%
Net Margin	10.4%	8.3%	9.9%	9.9%

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