Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Makes New Investment in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec acquired 5,180 shares of WD-40 Company valued at approximately $1.26 million in the first quarter.
• WD-40 reported earnings of $1.54 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations but falling short on revenue, which was $156.92 million.
• The company has recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, yielding 1.7% annually, with a payout ratio of 59.21%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec bought a new stake in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 5,180 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,264,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 568,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $138,666,000 after purchasing an additional 4,672 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 248,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $60,560,000 after purchasing an additional 39,137 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in WD-40 by 122.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $39,572,000 after buying an additional 89,120 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in WD-40 by 206.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 158,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,381,000 after buying an additional 106,617 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in WD-40 by 28,448.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 114,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,863,000 after buying an additional 113,792 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WD-40 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $290.00.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of WDFC stock traded down $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $211.03. The company had a trading volume of 101,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 89,580. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $218.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.29. WD-40 Company has a 52-week low of $208.00 and a 52-week high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $156.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.60 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.23% and a net margin of 14.13%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio is currently 59.21%.

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.