Positioning no disclosures inside 60 days, left as found
Options put/call open interest 0.00, read 2026-10-24
Ethical does not pass the values gate
Price55.52 USD
Fair value70.00
Ethical score70.0/100
Our investment reviews on this name
2026-10-26Read Markup55.99-0.8% to today Accumulation gives way to Markup after a 13% rise in 2 weeks
2026-10-11Read Accumulation49.57+12.0% to today ✓Markdown gives way to Accumulation with volume flow in agreement
2026-10-02Read Markdown48.41+14.7% to today Markup gives way to Markdown
2026-07-26Read Markup49.95+11.2% to today ✓Distribution gives way to Markup after a 30% rise in 3 weeks
Our analytic regime reads on this name, dated and marked against the screened price. Small sample per name, and separate from the daily-framework accuracy on the Track Record page.
Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc. holds its Markup at $55.52. Consolidating, no directional conviction, held for 36 days.
As held on the ledger · 2026-10-23
Phase
Markup
Quantitative state
Consolidating, no directional conviction, held for 36 days
Price at the screen
$55.52
Valuation
38.35 trailing · 10.26 forward price to earnings
Values screen
FAIL· score 70.0
Beta
0.75
The Workings
Five Screens, Shown in Full
Does not pass. Business activity: conventional financial services
Test
Figure
Limit
What it means
Status
Business activity
Excluded
Core business clean
No prohibited business activity identified
Fail
Debt load
22.30%
Below 33%
Interest-bearing debt is just 22.3% of its assets, well under the one-third ceiling: it does not run on borrowed money.
Pass
Interest-bearing cash
0.00%
Below 33%
Cash held in interest-bearing accounts and securities is 0.0% of assets, under the one-third limit.
Pass
Receivables
20.93%
Below 49%
Money owed to the company is 20.9% of assets, under the 49% limit.
Pass
Revenue purity
0.14%
Below 5%
Only 0.1% of revenue comes from non-compliant sources, under the 5% line.
Pass
Five checks adapted from AAOIFI screening standards: business activity plus four balance-sheet ratios. All five must pass for ethical clearance. Every figure is arithmetic on public accounts, not judgement.
The Ethical Read
Why It Falls Short, in Plain English
Donnelley Financial Solutions, does not clear the screen at the business-activity stage. It operates in conventional financial services, which the screen treats as interest-based, so the financial ratios are not the deciding factor here.
Read as at 2026-10-27. It updates when the underlying figures move, and past reads are kept below.
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Today DFIN does not pass the screen. If new figures move it to a pass, we send you one short email with the before and after. Verdicts change rarely, so you may not hear from us for a long time.
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Fair value range in USD, drawn from the 2026-10-23 screen. The gold marker is the market price at the same screen. A 25.0% margin of safety to the base estimate.
Third-party analyst targets: 3 covering, consensus Buy. The average target sits +12% from the screen price.
Reading the gap · Both our model and the analysts see meaningful upside from here.
Price History & Projections
Where it has been, where the models see it going. History from market close data; projection points are our fair-value estimates and third-party analyst targets, dated to the 2026-10-23 screen.
Fair value and rating are our own model estimates; the Street's range reflects third-party analyst estimates. Analysis, not advice.
The Business, in Plain Words
Compliance filings that barely move the needle
Every quarter, companies still need to file mountains of paperwork with regulators, and Donnelley Financial Solutions handles a slice of that workflow across software and services. Yet the numbers tell a flat story: revenue edging up just 2 percent, a 5 percent profit margin and 9 percent return on equity hardly signal a business pulling away from the pack.
We pass despite the forward multiple of 9.5 times and the claimed 40 percent margin of safety to fair value. Low growth and thin returns leave no real opportunity once the cyclical capital markets exposure is factored in, even though the ethical screen raises no flags.
The cheap valuation often marks the warning sign in this sector rather than a bargain, as deal volumes can stall for years and leave earnings stranded at peak levels. Analysis, not advice.
The risks · The things to watch: it's a small-cap, so the share price can swing harder than the market.
Plain-English interpretation of our own screen data. Analysis, not advice.
Where & How to Trade
DFIN trades on the NYSE. As a listed security it is accessible through almost any international broker offering its home market. New to this, or investing from abroad? Our guide to accessing global markets covers brokers, currencies and the practical steps.
The Dated Journal · Newest First, Never Edited
Every Entry, As Written
2026-10-28Markup$55.99+0.0%Entry 15
The analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 18% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading overbought. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-27Markup$55.99+0.0%Entry 14
The analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 18% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading overbought. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-26Markup · changed$55.99+0.0%Entry 13
The framework has shifted from accumulation to markup since the last review. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 18% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading overbought. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-25Accumulation$55.99+0.0%Entry 12
The analysis reads accumulation. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 9% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-24Accumulation$55.99+0.0%Entry 11
The analysis reads accumulation. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 9% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-23Accumulation$55.99+9.0%Entry 10
The analysis reads accumulation. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved up 9.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 9% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-22Accumulation$51.37+0.0%Entry 9
The analysis reads accumulation. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 9% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63. It reported earnings in this window, a natural checkpoint for the thesis.
2026-10-18Accumulation$51.37+3.6%Entry 8
The analysis reads accumulation. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved up 3.6% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it C, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is sitting below its long-term trend line with momentum reading bearish. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63.
The framework has shifted from markdown to accumulation since the last review. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved up 2.4% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it C, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is sitting below its long-term trend line with momentum reading bearish. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63.
2026-10-02Markdown · changed$48.41-2.4%Entry 6
The framework has shifted from markup to markdown since the last review. Price is trending lower. Sellers are in control and the prior trend has reversed. Price has moved down 2.4% since our last review. Ethical screening: FAIL. This security does not pass our values-based screening criteria. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it C, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is sitting below its long-term trend line with momentum reading bearish. Over the past year the shares are down 35%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 20%. The street (3 analysts) rates it none, with a mean price target of $63.
Each entry above was written on its date, before the outcome. A journal you can prune is not a journal.