WD-40’s (WDFC) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $322.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $233.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.75 and a beta of -0.04. WD-40 has a fifty-two week low of $211.03 and a fifty-two week high of $292.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.22.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,310.30. This trade represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WD-40

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in WD-40 by 11.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,434 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 2.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 307,097 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,452,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 13.7% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in WD-40 during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $955,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,966 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WD-40

WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, precision pens, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bike-specific products.