Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Has $138.67 Million Stake in 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 increased its stake in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 approximately 4.20% of WD-40 worth $138,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $27,863,000 after buying an additional 113,792 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in WD-40 by 206.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 158,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $38,381,000 after buying an additional 106,617 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at about $23,556,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in WD-40 by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $39,572,000 after buying an additional 89,120 shares during the period. Finally, GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd grew its holdings in 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 valued at $15,719,000 after buying an additional 45,747 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDFC traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $218.15. The stock had a trading volume of 17,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,219. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35 and a beta of 0.15. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $223.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.84. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. WD-40's dividend 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.