WD-40 Company $WDFC Shares Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its shares in WD-40 Company by 9.4%, owning 80,696 shares valued at approximately $19.69 million after purchasing additional shares in the first quarter.
• WD-40 reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.54, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.40, although revenue for the quarter was slightly below estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 59.21%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.60% of WD-40 worth $19,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in WD-40 by 18.7% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 248,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $60,560,000 after purchasing an additional 39,137 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in WD-40 by 122.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $39,572,000 after purchasing an additional 89,120 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in WD-40 by 206.9% during 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in WD-40 by 28,448.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 114,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,863,000 after purchasing an additional 113,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 45,747 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WD-40 Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $216.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.76. 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12 and a beta of 0.15.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $160.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. WD-40's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WD-40 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $290.00.

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.

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