DA Davidson Reiterates “Buy” Rating for WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $322.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 39.58% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Stock Down 1.2 %

WDFC stock opened at $230.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $257.97 and its 200 day moving average is $257.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. WD-40 has a one year low of $211.03 and a one year high of $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20 and a beta of -0.04.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company had revenue of $153.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WD-40 news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,310.30. This represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in WD-40 by 41.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in WD-40 by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 28.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

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.