Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI) Stock Price & How to Invest

Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI) makes filtration systems and, more importantly, the replacement filters that go into them. Three segments carry the business: Mobile Solutions, the largest at roughly ~62% of fiscal 2025 sales, covering air and liquid filters plus emissions systems for off-road machinery, trucks and the independent aftermarket; Industrial Solutions, covering dust collection, compressed air, gas turbine intake and, since May 2026, jet fuel filtration through the acquired Facet business; and Life Sciences, a smaller unit spanning food and beverage process filtration, disk-drive filters and an assembled bioprocessing portfolio built from Solaris, Purilogics, Isolere Bio and Univercells Technologies. Filters are consumable and often regulated, so a machine sold once generates parts revenue for a decade or more.

The investment picture is quality at a full price. Fiscal 2026 has been a record year: third-quarter sales (period ended April 30, 2026) hit ~$995 million, adjusted operating margin reached an all-time high of ~16.6%, and management narrowed full-year adjusted EPS guidance to ~$3.94 to ~$4.01 on organic sales growth of 3% to 5%. Against that, the shares change hands near ~$96 for a market cap of ~$11.1 billion, about ~26x trailing EPS of ~$3.72 and ~23x forward estimates, with a modest ~1.3% dividend yield. Fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results are scheduled for August 26, 2026, which makes the coming weeks the first look at how Facet lands inside the Industrial Solutions numbers.

Mobile Solutions ties a majority of revenue to off-road and on-road equipment cycles, so agriculture, construction and truck build rates set the direction of first-fit volumes regardless of how steady the aftermarket is. Industrial Solutions sales were roughly flat in the April quarter and management has previously trimmed guidance citing demand that softened after tariff-related pre-buying, and while Section 232 metal tariffs were characterized as not material, pricing is carrying a little over 1% of growth, which can reverse. The Facet purchase took pro forma net debt to about ~1.8x EBITDA, adds roughly ~$9 million of quarterly interest expense, and has paused share repurchases while the debt is paid down, so integration slippage would show up in both earnings and the buyback. Fiscal 2025 included a ~$62.0 million intangible-asset impairment tied to earlier acquisitions, a reminder that the bolt-on strategy in bioprocessing has already produced one write-down, and Life Sciences still earns roughly half the company margin. No active securities-fraud class action is on file against Donaldson; a 2015 revenue-recognition matter in a European gas turbine business and the investor suit that followed it are historical, and the valuation near ~26x trailing earnings leaves limited cushion if any of the above lands at once.

5 analysts publish price targets on DCI, averaging $96.80 against a $95.95 price as of August 2026, or +0.9%. The published targets run from $79.00 to $123.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 2 buy, 5 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full DCI forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Donaldson Company, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Replacement filters as the recurring base. Filtration is a consumables business dressed as an equipment business. The most optimistic published target, $123.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Mobile Solutions ties a majority of revenue to off-road and on-road equipment cycles, so agriculture, construction and truck build rates set the direction of first-fit volumes regardless of how steady the aftermarket is. The most pessimistic target, $79.00, is roughly what DCI is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on DCI, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Donaldson Company, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$3.81B (+4.4% YoY)
• Q3 FY2026 sales (quarter ended Apr 30, 2026): ~$995M (+5.8% YoY), a record
• Adjusted operating margin: ~16.6% in Q3 FY2026, an all-time high
• FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance: ~$3.94 to ~$4.01 (7% to 9% growth)
• Valuation: ~$11.1B market cap, ~26x trailing EPS of ~$3.72, ~23x forward
• Balance sheet: ~$204M cash and ~$598M debt at Apr 30, 2026; pro forma ~1.8x net debt/EBITDA after Facet

Fiscal 2026 ends July 31, so the April quarter is the most recent reported period and fourth-quarter results are due August 26, 2026. GAAP EPS of ~$1.00 versus ~$0.48 a year earlier overstates the underlying improvement, because the prior-year quarter absorbed a ~$62.0 million impairment; adjusted EPS rose a more ordinary ~7.1% to ~$1.06. Nine-month operating cash flow of ~$293.8 million funded ~$104.0 million of dividends and ~$108.5 million of buybacks before repurchases were paused, with the quarterly dividend at ~$0.32 per share for a yield near ~1.3%.

Other names that sit close to DCI: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get DCI exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so DCI sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where DCI fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

DCI is a high-quality, recurring-revenue filtration compounder that has executed well into record margins, with the debate centered on price paid rather than business quality.

Whether DCI is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is DCI a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the DCI stock forecast.

For income investors, whether DCI pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does DCI pay a dividend? And to weigh DCI against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: DCI vs ATMU and DCI vs CMI.