Stifel Financial Corp Lowers Stock Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,168 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 1,438 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.16% of WD-40 worth $5,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 309.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,566,000 after purchasing an additional 28,039 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in WD-40 by 365.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,841 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 3,801 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in WD-40 by 24.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $13,913,000 after buying an additional 10,711 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson raised WD-40 to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th.

Insider Activity at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer bought 256 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $222.83 per share, with a total value of $57,044.48. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $907,363.76. The trade was a 6.71 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

WD-40 Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WDFC stock traded up $4.30 on Friday, reaching $231.64. 74,438 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 100,896. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 44.38 and a beta of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $233.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.67. WD-40 has a one year low of $208.00 and a one year high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $146.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. WD-40's payout ratio is currently 59.97%.

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.