WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Earns “Buy” Rating from DA Davidson

DA Davidson reiterated their buy rating on shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $322.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

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

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $277.73 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $264.45 and a 200 day moving average of $248.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $211.03 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.33 and a beta of -0.08.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 31.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s payout ratio is 68.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.98, for a total transaction of $205,584.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,312,563.02. The trade was a 8.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in WD-40 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 during the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in WD-40 by 57.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 216 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the 2nd quarter worth $67,000. 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.