Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in WD-40 Company by 36.1% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.10% of the company valued at $3.2 million.
• WD-40 reported quarterly earnings of $1.54 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 1.2%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, with a current dividend yield of 1.7%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 36.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of WD-40 worth $3,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 36.7% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 8.9% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 597 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 15.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 37.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 17.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 468 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

WD-40 Stock Performance

WDFC traded up $2.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $217.03. The stock had a trading volume of 14,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,950. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26 and a beta of 0.15. The company's 50-day moving average price is $232.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.52. WD-40 Company has a twelve month low of $208.00 and a twelve month high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $156.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.60 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 31.23%. WD-40's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's payout ratio is presently 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.