WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $305.00 According to Analysts

Shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $305.00.

Several analysts have weighed in on WDFC shares. Weiss Ratings cut WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Zacks Research lowered WD-40 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. DA Davidson raised their target price on WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Friday, July 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WD-40 news, insider Patricia Olsem sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.72, for a total transaction of $46,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,609.28. This trade represents a 4.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WD-40

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

WD-40 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $214.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 0.27. WD-40 has a fifty-two week low of $175.38 and a fifty-two week high of $298.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $219.04.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $176.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.07 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 30.84% and a net margin of 11.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that WD-40 will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th will be given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 19th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.11%.

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.