Stonegate Investment Group LLC Cuts Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 6.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 during the first quarter worth approximately $20,491,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in WD-40 by 80.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 69,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 31,055 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in WD-40 in the first quarter worth $4,180,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in WD-40 by 83.6% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 26,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,642,000 after buying an additional 11,939 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in WD-40 by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $411,374,000 after buying an additional 6,532 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WDFC. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on WD-40 from $303.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

WD-40 Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of WDFC opened at $251.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.40. WD-40 has a twelve month low of $194.09 and a twelve month high of $278.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.36 and a beta of -0.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by ($0.11). WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.43% and a net margin of 12.07%. The business had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.16%.

WD-40 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.