Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 73,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,903,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.54% of WD-40 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 525.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in WD-40 by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in WD-40 by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 566 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $222.76 on Monday. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $208.00 and a 1 year high of $292.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 42.67 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $234.52 and a 200 day moving average of $248.74.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $146.10 million for 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 company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 59.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer purchased 256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $222.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,044.48. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $907,363.76. This trade represents a 6.71 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th.

WD-40 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.