Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Buys 4,672 Shares of WD-40 Company $WDFC

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in WD-40 Company by 0.8% to over 568,302 shares, representing approximately $138.7 million in value.
• WD-40's earnings per share for the last quarter was $1.54, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue fell short of forecasts at $156.92 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94, with a yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 59.21%.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 568,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,672 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 4.20% of WD-40 worth $138,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WDFC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in WD-40 by 4.8% in the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,048 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 8.9% in the 1st 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. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 895 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 1,037 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in WD-40 by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 56 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 reduced their price target on WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WD-40 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.00.

WD-40 Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC traded down $3.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $217.70. The company had a trading volume of 83,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,997. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.02. WD-40 Company has a one year low of $208.00 and a one year high of $292.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $223.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.69. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28 and a beta of 0.15.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 31.23%. The business had revenue of $156.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.60 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. 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.