Quality Investor

Donaldson Company, Inc.

Rank #125Hypergrowth

DCI · NYSE · Industrials

Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI) — Rank #125 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.42) · ROE 21.6% · Piotroski F-Score 7 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000029644 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Donaldson Company, Inc. manufactures and sells filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide.

Show more

The company operates through Mobile Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Life Sciences segments. The Mobile Solutions segment provides replacement filters for air and liquid filtration applications, such as air filtration systems, fuel, lube and hydraulic systems, emissions systems and sensors, indicators, and monitoring systems. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the construction, mining, agriculture, and transportation markets; and to independent distributors, and OEM dealer networks. The Industrial Solutions segment offers dust, fume, and mist collectors; compressed air and industrial gasses purification systems; air inlet systems and filtration for power generation; ancillary components; replacement parts; performance monitoring and service; and hydraulic and lubricated rotating equipment applications, as well as gas and liquid filtration for industrial processes and connected services. It also sells aerospace and defense products comprising of air, fuel, lubrication and hydraulic filtration for fixed-wing and rotorcraft aerospace applications and ground defense vehicle and naval platforms. This segment sells its products to various distributors, OEMs, and end-users. The Life Sciences segment provides micro-environment gas and liquid filtration for food, beverage, and industrial processes; bioprocessing equipment that includes bioreactors and fermenters; and bioprocessing consumables, such as chromatography devices, reagents and filters, and polytetrafluoroethylene membrane-based products, as well as specialized air and gas filtration systems for applications, including hard disk drives, semi-conductor manufacturing and sensors, battery systems, and powertrain components to OEMs and various end-users.

The company was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Industry
Specialty Industrial Machinery
Sector
Industrials
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
July 31

Price History

DCI+54.9% · +9.2% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$10.08B

P/E (annual)

28.5

P/S (annual)

2.7

P/B

5.9

P/OCF (annual)

24.1

Shareholder Yield

10.2%

Employees

15,000

Industry

Specialty Industrial Machinery

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

3 green1 yellow2 red
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 3-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why
Operating margin decliningOperating margin lower than prior year
Balance sheet deterioratingNet cash collapsed with receivables or inventory outpacing revenue

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.42
Return on equity
21.6%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.82
Current ratio
2.35×
Net cash
-$446.20M

Cash Flow

2/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
WARN
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.7%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
35.0%
Piotroski F-Score
7 / 9
Share dilution
-8.9%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 2/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

13.6%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -8.9% — per-share value needs a total required return of 4.7% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 9.8%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

8.9%

r = 10% (base)

13.6%

r = 12%

17.6%

Net debt / market cap: 4.3%

Note: current FCF margin is 1.6σ above its historical mean — implied growth may understate valuation risk if the margin reverts.

Base FCF: $339.9M3Y mean FCF: $175.3M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

26.9xFair
23.0xmed 30.2x42.8x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

2.7xFair
2.3xmed 2.8x3.5x

P / B

Price / book value per share

6.8xCheap
5.9xmed 8.3x10.2x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

7.9xFair
6.8xmed 8.1x10.4x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

22.5xCheap
22.5xmed 32.8x46.5x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.42

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

89th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers

Return on equity

21.6%

Gross margin

34.8%

23rd pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

35.0%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2018201920202021
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

7.4%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

3.3%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.82

54th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

2.35×

66th pctl of 36 SIC 35 peers

Quick ratio

1.36×

Net cash

-$446.20M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$339.90M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

-0.07

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

WARN

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.7%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.5 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
35.9%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
2.58×4/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
9 yr4/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.82 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

7 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20162021
Capital Return
Decline