Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $2.35 Million Stock Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 64.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,683 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in WD-40 by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 845 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,697 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of WD-40 by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,111 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,454,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WD-40 Stock Performance

WDFC stock opened at $239.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.89 and a beta of 0.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.23. WD-40 has a 52 week low of $208.00 and a 52 week high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $146.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $154.40 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 59.97%.

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 stock was purchased at an average cost of $222.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,044.48. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.