Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,224,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. Quarry LP grew its position in WD-40 by 1,462.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 125 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 4,133.3% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 127 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in WD-40 by 207.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in WD-40 by 400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in WD-40 by 195.4% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson cut their price target on WD-40 from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Northcoast Research raised WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on WD-40 in a research note on Monday, April 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, WD-40 has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $270.00.

WD-40 Price Performance

Shares of WDFC stock opened at $245.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81 and a beta of 0.26. WD-40 Company has a one year low of $175.38 and a one year high of $253.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $216.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.98.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. WD-40 had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 30.23%. The company had revenue of $161.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $154.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. WD-40’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. WD-40’s payout ratio is presently 69.39%.

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.