Algert Global LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• Algert Global LLC increased its stake in WD-40 Company by 15.0% in the first quarter, owning 11,119 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting $1.54 earnings per share against an expectation of $1.40, although revenue was slightly below projections.
• WD-40 Company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.7%.

Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 15.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC owned approximately 0.08% of WD-40 worth $2,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mariner LLC grew its position in WD-40 by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 7,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,905,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in WD-40 by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in WD-40 by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,225 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,996,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in WD-40 in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 2,928 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WD-40 Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ WDFC traded down $2.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $219.99. 69,606 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 145,815. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $225.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.02. WD-40 Company has a 12-month low of $208.00 and a 12-month high of $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.68 and a beta of 0.15.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. WD-40 had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 31.23%. The business had revenue of $156.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WD-40 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.00.

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.