WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $288.76 and last traded at $288.76, with a volume of 15593 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $285.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WDFC shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.51 and a beta of -0.08.

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

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s payout ratio is 68.88%.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.98, for a total value of $205,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,312,563.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in WD-40 by 1,131.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $411,374,000 after buying an additional 6,532 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $20,491,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,180,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in WD-40 during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $547,000. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

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.