Nordson Shares Dropped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Nordson (NAS: NDSN) dropped like a stone this morning, falling nearly 13% before beginning a long climb back to almost breaking even.

So what: The "precision dispensing" equipment maker reported earnings that missed the Wall Street consensus, then added inadequacy to injury by falling short on guidance as well.

Now what: Nordson earned $0.82 per share in the fiscal third quarter, and the current quarter's earnings should be in the neighborhood of $0.80 as well. While that's less than Wall Street was hoping to see, however, it should be more than Nordson earned in last year's fiscal fourth quarter. As a result, we're looking at about a 12 P/E stock here, still pegged for better than 13% long-term earnings growth on Wall Street, still basically net-debt-free, and still paying a tidy 1% dividend. Call me crazy, call me a Fool -- but that just doesn't look expensive to me.

Is Nordson as cheap as it looks?Add it to your Foolish watchlist, and see how things shake out.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorRich Smithdoes not own (or short) shares of any company named above. Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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