Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 4,723 Shares of WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC boosted its stake in WD-40 Company by 242.2% and now holds a total of $1.62 million in shares, bringing its total to 6,673 shares.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their positions in WD-40, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by a remarkable 28,448.0%, now owning 114,192 shares valued at $27.86 million.
• WD-40 has faced a stock price drop of 1.7%, with its recent earnings report showing an EPS of $1.54, which exceeded analyst expectations, albeit falling short on revenue projections.

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 242.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,673 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,723 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in WD-40 were worth $1,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in WD-40 during the 1st quarter valued at $23,556,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in WD-40 by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Corient IA LLC acquired a new position in WD-40 in the 1st quarter worth approximately $244,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in WD-40 by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 80,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $19,690,000 after buying an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in WD-40 in the first quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WD-40 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $290.00.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of WDFC stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $214.05. 119,485 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 84,573. WD-40 Company has a fifty-two week low of $208.00 and a fifty-two week high of $292.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71 and a beta of 0.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $221.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

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

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.