Royce & Associates LP Boosts Stock Position in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 739.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,517 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $32,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in WD-40 by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,650,622 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $325,007,000 after purchasing an additional 47,528 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in WD-40 by 6.4% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 533,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $105,467,000 after purchasing an additional 32,333 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in WD-40 by 24.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 333,505 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,069,000 after purchasing an additional 65,423 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in WD-40 by 1.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 284,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,135,000 after purchasing an additional 5,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WD-40 by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 264,136 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,193,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson cut their price objective on WD-40 from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. William Blair assumed coverage on WD-40 in a research report on Monday, April 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WD-40 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.00.

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $207.30 on Tuesday. WD-40 Company has a one year low of $175.38 and a one year high of $253.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $211.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 0.33.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. WD-40 had a return on equity of 30.23% and a net margin of 12.57%.The firm had revenue of $161.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that WD-40 Company will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is 69.39%.

WD-40 Profile

WD-40 Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is best known for its flagship WD-40® Multi-Use Product, a water-displacing spray used for lubrication, rust prevention and cleaning. Since its introduction in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 brand has become a household and industrial staple. Over time, the company has broadened its portfolio to include complementary maintenance and cleaning brands such as 3-IN-ONE® oils, Lava® hand cleaners, Solvol® solvents, Spot Shot® stain removers and X-14® cleaning products.

WD-40 Company distributes its products in more than 176 countries through retail, industrial and automotive channels.