SG Americas Securities LLC Invests $6.07 Million in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 24,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,072,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 209.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 150,557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,537,000 after acquiring an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 73,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,730,000 after acquiring an additional 6,330 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WD-40 during the fourth quarter worth about $17,903,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,627,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $395,006,000 after acquiring an additional 16,763 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WD-40 Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of WDFC stock opened at $245.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.10 and a beta of 0.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $233.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.47. 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 fifty-two week low of $208.00 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $146.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.40 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a $0.94 dividend. 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 1.53%. WD-40’s payout ratio is currently 59.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer acquired 256 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $222.83 per share, with a total value of $57,044.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $907,363.76. The trade was a 6.71% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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.