WD-40 Company $WDFC Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. significantly increased its stake in WD-40 Company by 2,642.6%, acquiring a total of 1,865 shares valued at $455,000.
• WD-40 reported earnings of $1.54 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, but its revenue was slightly below estimates at $156.92 million.
• The company's recent quarterly dividend was set at $0.94, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 2,642.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in WD-40 were worth $455,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $60,560,000 after acquiring an additional 39,137 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $39,572,000 after acquiring an additional 89,120 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 206.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 158,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,381,000 after acquiring an additional 106,617 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 28,448.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 114,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,863,000 after acquiring an additional 113,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 245.0% in the 1st quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd now owns 64,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $15,719,000 after acquiring an additional 45,747 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson cut their target price on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WD-40 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $290.00.

WD-40 Trading Up 1.0%

WD-40 stock traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $216.14. 49,619 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 143,659. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.15. 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 $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $160.60 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. WD-40's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.