AlphaQuest LLC Increases Stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 321.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,108 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in WD-40 by 525.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake 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 grew its stake in WD-40 by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in WD-40 by 77.9% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

WD-40 Price Performance

WDFC opened at $246.78 on Tuesday. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $211.03 and a 1 year high of $292.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 47.28 and a beta of -0.10. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $235.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.98.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $153.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. WD-40’s payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

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.