WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.88

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of 0.88 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th.

WD-40 has raised its dividend by an average of 7.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. WD-40 has a payout ratio of 59.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect WD-40 to earn $5.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.1%.

WD-40 Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $231.92 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $256.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.31. WD-40 has a 12 month low of $181.38 and a 12 month high of $278.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 46.29 and a beta of -0.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $139.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.51 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.30% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. On average, analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $313.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Pendarvis purchased 328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $234.75 per share, with a total value of $76,998.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,256.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Jeffrey G. Lindeman acquired 182 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $272.42 per share, with a total value of $49,580.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 3,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $837,146.66. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Pendarvis acquired 328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $234.75 per share, with a total value of $76,998.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,256.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of WD-40

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDFC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 7.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,928 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 3.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,249 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 5.4% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,069 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 5.3% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 13,825 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,533,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 57.7% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is 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.