CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 3,963 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,963 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Nordson were worth $11,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDSN. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Nordson by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 73.7% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Nordson by 695.0% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 318 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in Nordson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Nordson during the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nordson Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Nordson stock opened at $177.11 on Tuesday. Nordson Co. has a 52-week low of $165.03 and a 52-week high of $279.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $200.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.09. 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 $10.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.40 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s payout ratio is currently 39.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, February 24th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Nordson from $260.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.20.

Nordson 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.