WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Stock Jumps 8.5% – Time to Buy?

WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC)’s stock price shot up 8.5% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $209.47 and last traded at $208.97. Approximately 161,268 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 162,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.56.

Key Stories Impacting WD-40

Here are the key news stories impacting WD-40 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal 2026 net sales rose 11% to $688 million, or 7% on a constant-currency basis, demonstrating continued demand for WD-40’s products. WD-40: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Fourth-quarter revenue reached $176.8 million, exceeding the roughly $172.1 million analyst estimate and increasing 8.1% year over year. The sales beat likely helped support the stock. WD-40 Q4 Revenue Earnings Flash
• Positive Sentiment: Management indicated that margins are positioned for recovery and provided fiscal 2027 earnings guidance, giving investors greater visibility into the next phase of growth. WD-40 Fiscal 2027 Earnings Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: WD-40’s transition of Japan to a direct market in fiscal 2026 could provide greater control over distribution and future growth, although it may require near-term investment. WD-40 Long-Term Investor Takeaways
• Neutral Sentiment: The company reported an update on its previously announced equity buyback plan. The update may support shareholder returns, but the supplied information does not specify the repurchase amount or timing. WD-40 Equity Buyback Plan Update
• Negative Sentiment: Fourth-quarter adjusted EPS was $1.06, below estimates of approximately $1.11–$1.13 and down from $1.56 a year earlier. The earnings miss and lower profitability could limit further upside if margin improvement takes longer than expected. WD-40 Q4 Earnings Miss

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of WD-40 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WD-40 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.00.

WD-40 Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $205.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.84.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $176.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.07 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 33.53% and a net margin of 13.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that WD-40 Company will post 6.24 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th will be issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 19th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patricia Olsem sold 200 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.72, for a total value of $46,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,073,609.28. The trade was a 4.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in WD-40 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $505,734,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in WD-40 by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 411,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $83,883,000 after acquiring an additional 121,358 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 294,277 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,015,000 after buying an additional 7,886 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in WD-40 during the second quarter valued at $29,162,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 15.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,294,000 after acquiring an additional 10,265 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About WD-40

WD-40 Company develops and markets maintenance, cleaning and homecare products for consumers, professional tradespeople and industrial users. Its best-known product is WD-40 Multi-Use Product, a spray designed to displace moisture, protect metal, loosen rusted parts and lubricate equipment. The company also offers WD-40 Specialist products for specific maintenance applications and the 3-IN-ONE line of lubricants.

The company’s homecare and cleaning portfolio has included brands such as X-14, 2000 Flushes and Carpet Fresh.