One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$99.40 our estimate vs market $85.52
Wall Street consensus: $100.40 (1.0% higher than our fair-value estimate)
14% below our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
Donaldson Company, Inc.
DCI · NYQ · Industrials · Specialty Industrial Machinery
Current price
$85.52
52-week range
$79.61 - $112.84
Market cap
$9.90B
Balance sheet
Watch
16.41x Strong cushion
Net debt $1.13B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 4.0% last year.
- Reward Returns 28.2% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 129.3% over 3 years.
What this company does
Donaldson Company, Inc.
Donaldson Company makes and sells filters for many things, from trucks and tractors to factories and hospitals. Their money mostly comes from selling these filters and related parts to big companies that build vehicles or machinery, and also to other businesses that need clean air or liquids. This matters because keeping machines and environments clean with good filters helps them run better and last longer, which is important for industries like transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare.
How the company got here
Donaldson Company, Inc. has a long history, founded way back in 1915. It started with a simple idea: making air filters for tractors to help them run better in dusty conditions. Over the decades, the company grew by expanding its filtration technology to new markets and applications. A key turning point was its expansion beyond just agriculture into industrial and then aerospace needs, demonstrating its ability to adapt its core expertise to diverse and demanding environments. This evolution has positioned Donaldson as a global leader in filtration solutions.
What it actually does
At its heart, Donaldson makes filters. Think of all the things that need clean air or liquids to work properly – engines, machines, even sensitive electronics. Donaldson designs and manufactures the "screens" or "barriers" that remove unwanted particles from these air and liquid flows. These filters are crucial for protecting equipment from damage, ensuring products are made cleanly, and helping various systems operate efficiently and reliably.
Mobile Solutions
This part of Donaldson focuses on filters for things that move, like trucks, tractors, and construction equipment. They make replacement filters for engines (air and oil), fuel systems, and hydraulic systems, which are like the "blood vessels" of heavy machinery. These filters help keep the engines running smoothly and prevent wear and tear, extending the life of the equipment. This segment sells to both the companies that build the original equipment (OEMs) and to independent shops that service them.
Industrial Solutions
The Industrial Solutions segment is all about keeping factories and industrial processes clean and efficient. This includes systems that capture dust and fumes generated by manufacturing, filters for compressed air used in tools and processes, and filtration for power generation equipment. They also provide specialized filters for aerospace and defense, ensuring critical systems in planes and vehicles function correctly. This business serves a wide range of customers, from large manufacturers to government contractors.
Life Sciences
This segment applies Donaldson's filtration expertise to highly sensitive areas like food and beverage production, pharmaceuticals, and advanced technology manufacturing. They provide filters that ensure beverages are pure, medical equipment is sterile, and delicate processes like semiconductor manufacturing are free from contaminants. This part of the business also includes equipment for bioprocessing, which is used in making medicines and other biological products. It's a smaller but important part of Donaldson, focusing on critical applications where purity is paramount.
What management is betting on now
Donaldson's leadership is focused on leveraging its core filtration technology across its existing segments and exploring new growth opportunities. They are investing in innovation to develop advanced filtration solutions for emerging markets, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy. A key priority is also expanding their reach in the Life Sciences segment, capitalizing on the growing demand for high-purity filtration in healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Additionally, they aim to improve operational efficiency and expand their service offerings to better support their global customer base.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2025 Q1
$47.90M
FY2025 Q2
$71.50M
FY2025 Q3
$73.00M
FY2025 Q4
$147.50M
FY2026 Q1
$111.20M
FY2026 Q2
$18.00M
FY2026 Q3
$112.10M
FY2026 Q4
$185.00M
Revenue
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Net income
$129.30M
Diluted EPS
1.10
Operating cash flow
$199.90M
Free cash flow
$185.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$118.10M
Diluted EPS
1.00
Operating cash flow
$135.40M
Free cash flow
$112.10M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$92.50M
Diluted EPS
0.78
Operating cash flow
$33.00M
Free cash flow
$18.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$113.90M
Diluted EPS
0.97
Operating cash flow
$125.40M
Free cash flow
$111.20M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$114.30M
Diluted EPS
0.97
Operating cash flow
$167.80M
Free cash flow
$147.50M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$57.80M
Diluted EPS
0.48
Operating cash flow
$87.70M
Free cash flow
$73.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$95.90M
Diluted EPS
0.79
Operating cash flow
$90.40M
Free cash flow
$71.50M
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Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$99.00M
Diluted EPS
0.81
Operating cash flow
$72.90M
Free cash flow
$47.90M
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $99.40 vs current price $85.52
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $100.40 (1.0% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $99.40 a share — about 16.2% away from today's price of $85.52, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $1.1B. Interest coverage 16.4x.
Net debt
$1.13B
Interest coverage
16.41x
Donaldson Company, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 16.4 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
DCI
BASELINE
Donaldson Company, Inc.
Total debt $1.38B Interest coverage 16.41x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $8.73B Interest coverage 11.56x -30% vs DCI Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than DCI.
Total debt $8.29B Interest coverage 11.75x -28% vs DCI Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than DCI.
Total debt $164.67M Interest coverage 211.11x +1,187% vs DCI Carries about 12.9x more debt cushion than DCI.
Total debt $3.36B Interest coverage 4.62x -72% vs DCI Carries about 3.5x less debt cushion than DCI.
What you should know
The case for and against DCI
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 4.0% last year.
-
Returns 28.2% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 129.3% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
22.33x
Forward P/E
17.61x
P/B
5.62x
P/S
2.55x
EV/EBITDA
15.48x
PEG ratio
1.58x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
35.1%
Operating margin
17.0%
Net margin
11.7%
ROE
28.2%
ROA
10.9%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.78x
Current ratio
2.08x
Quick ratio
1.28x
Total debt
$1.38B
Total cash
$250.40M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$2.84B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
50.6%
EPS TTM
3.83
EPS 5Y CAGR
9.9%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$493.70M
Free CF TTM
$426.30M
FCF margin
15.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.4%
Payout ratio
31.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-17