WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $305.00

Shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $305.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on WDFC. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of WD-40 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

WD-40 Stock Up 0.5%

WDFC stock opened at $220.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 35.56 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $204.72 and its 200 day moving average is $219.33. WD-40 has a one year low of $175.38 and a one year high of $298.90.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.07). WD-40 had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 30.84%. The business had revenue of $176.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. WD-40’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 19th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.11%.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In other news, insider Patricia Olsem sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.72, for a total transaction of $46,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,609.28. This represents a 4.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WD-40 in the second quarter valued at approximately $505,734,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 41.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 411,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $83,883,000 after purchasing an additional 121,358 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 294,277 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,015,000 after purchasing an additional 7,886 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in WD-40 during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,162,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,294,000 after buying an additional 10,265 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WD-40 Company Profile

WD-40 Company develops and markets maintenance, cleaning and homecare products for consumers, professional tradespeople and industrial users. Its best-known product is WD-40 Multi-Use Product, a spray designed to displace moisture, protect metal, loosen rusted parts and lubricate equipment. The company also offers WD-40 Specialist products for specific maintenance applications and the 3-IN-ONE line of lubricants.

The company’s homecare and cleaning portfolio has included brands such as X-14, 2000 Flushes and Carpet Fresh.