WD-40 Company $WDFC Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $15,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in WD-40 by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,650,622 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $325,007,000 after buying an additional 47,528 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 73.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 41,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,121,000 after buying an additional 17,409 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in WD-40 by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 40,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,037,000 after purchasing an additional 23,626 shares in the last quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 89.2% in the fourth quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd now owns 221,225 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,559,000 after buying an additional 104,282 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 10,648.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 22,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after acquiring an additional 22,043 shares during the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair initiated coverage on WD-40 in a research report on Monday, April 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WD-40 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Northcoast Research raised shares of WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $305.00.

WD-40 Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $232.61 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $226.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.35 and a beta of 0.26. WD-40 Company has a 12-month low of $175.38 and a 12-month high of $298.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.75. WD-40 had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 33.53%. The business had revenue of $195.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. WD-40’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. WD-40 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.050-6.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.01%.

WD-40 Profile

WD-40 Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is best known for its flagship WD-40® Multi-Use Product, a water-displacing spray used for lubrication, rust prevention and cleaning. Since its introduction in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 brand has become a household and industrial staple. Over time, the company has broadened its portfolio to include complementary maintenance and cleaning brands such as 3-IN-ONE® oils, Lava® hand cleaners, Solvol® solvents, Spot Shot® stain removers and X-14® cleaning products.

WD-40 Company distributes its products in more than 176 countries through retail, industrial and automotive channels.