Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,627,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,763 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.01% of WD-40 worth $395,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 525.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in WD-40 by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in WD-40 by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 566 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of WDFC opened at $247.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 47.48 and a beta of -0.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $237.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. WD-40 has a fifty-two week low of $211.03 and a fifty-two week high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $153.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. Equities analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

WD-40 Company Profile

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.