Entropy Technologies LP Purchases Shares of 900 WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in WD-40 by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,026 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in WD-40 by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 145,462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,512,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in WD-40 by 115.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in WD-40 by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,913,000 after purchasing an additional 10,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in WD-40 by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC opened at $230.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20 and a beta of -0.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.97. WD-40 has a 52-week low of $211.03 and a 52-week high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $153.30 million during 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%. WD-40’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.03%.

WD-40 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.