WD-40 Company $WDFC Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co.

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. cut its position in WD‑40 by 62.4% in Q4—selling 5,204 shares and retaining 3,133 shares worth $623,000—while other institutions increased stakes, leaving institutional ownership at 91.52%.
• WD‑40 beat Q2 expectations with $1.50 EPS versus $1.39 expected and $161.67M in revenue (up 10.7% YoY), and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.02 (annualized $4.08, ~1.9% yield).
• Analysts show a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $270 price target; William Blair initiated coverage with an “outperform” and DA Davidson maintained a “buy” while cutting its target to $270.

Whittier Trust Co. lowered its position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 62.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,133 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,204 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in WD-40 were worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in WD-40 by 110.1% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 178,395 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $35,251,000 after acquiring an additional 93,502 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,817,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 333,505 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $76,069,000 after buying an additional 65,423 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 1,080.7% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 59,826 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $13,646,000 after buying an additional 54,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 501,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $114,365,000 after buying an additional 53,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WDFC. William Blair began coverage on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Monday, April 6th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of WD-40 from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WD-40 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $270.00.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of WDFC opened at $213.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29 and a beta of 0.25. The company's fifty day moving average is $224.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.76. WD-40 Company has a 1 year low of $175.38 and a 1 year high of $253.24.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. WD-40 had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 30.23%. The business had revenue of $161.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $154.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. WD-40's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WD-40 news, Director David Pendarvis acquired 424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $247.15 per share, with a total value of $104,791.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,704,840.70. The trade was a 6.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

WD-40 Profile

WD-40 Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is best known for its flagship WD-40® Multi-Use Product, a water-displacing spray used for lubrication, rust prevention and cleaning. Since its introduction in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 brand has become a household and industrial staple. Over time, the company has broadened its portfolio to include complementary maintenance and cleaning brands such as 3-IN-ONE® oils, Lava® hand cleaners, Solvol® solvents, Spot Shot® stain removers and X-14® cleaning products.

WD-40 Company distributes its products in more than 176 countries through retail, industrial and automotive channels.

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