Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $455,000 Stake in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 2,642.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WDFC. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 248,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,560,000 after buying an additional 39,137 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 162,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,572,000 after buying an additional 89,120 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 206.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 158,156 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,381,000 after buying an additional 106,617 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 28,448.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 114,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,863,000 after buying an additional 113,792 shares during the period. Finally, GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd increased its stake in shares of WD-40 by 245.0% in the 1st quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd now owns 64,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,719,000 after buying an additional 45,747 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WD-40 Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $216.04 on Monday. WD-40 Company has a 12-month low of $208.00 and a 12-month high of $292.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.50.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.14. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.23% and a net margin of 14.13%.The business had revenue of $156.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.60 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson lowered their target price on WD-40 from $322.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WD-40 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.00.

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.