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

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $288.57 and last traded at $285.46, with a volume of 7816 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $274.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.62 and a beta of -0.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.47.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released 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). The business had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 8,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,312,563.02. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 152.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in WD-40 by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,605,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 11,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the first quarter valued at approximately $896,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in WD-40 during the 1st quarter worth approximately $305,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Company 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.