Vestcor Inc Sells 2,244 Shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc significantly reduced its stake in WD-40 Company by 94.6%, selling 2,244 shares and retaining only 127 shares valued at $31,000.
• WD-40 reported earnings per share of $1.54, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a 1.2% year-over-year revenue increase to $156.92 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.94, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 59.21%.

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 94.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 2,244 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in WD-40 were worth $31,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 206.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 158,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,381,000 after purchasing an additional 106,617 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WD-40 in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,903,000. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd grew its holdings in WD-40 by 245.0% during the first quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd now owns 64,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $15,719,000 after buying an additional 45,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the 4th quarter valued at $10,179,000. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

WD-40 stock traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $219.48. 66,097 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 150,467. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $230.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.12. WD-40 Company has a one year low of $208.00 and a one year 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.14. WD-40 had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 31.23%. The company had revenue of $156.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders 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 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio is 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.