Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $109.36 Million Stake in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in WD-40 Company by 1,767.7% in the first quarter, owning 448,180 shares valued at $109.36 million.
• WD-40 reported an EPS of $1.54 for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $156.92 million, slightly below expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, yielding 1.7%, with a dividend payout ratio of 59.21%.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 1,767.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 448,180 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 424,183 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 3.31% of WD-40 worth $109,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in WD-40 during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 96.1% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 149 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 210.6% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 82.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 420.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

WD-40 Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $212.80. The stock had a trading volume of 238,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 82,085. The company's 50 day moving average price is $219.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.84. WD-40 Company has a twelve month low of $208.00 and a twelve month high of $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 0.13.

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

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

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

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.