Ethic Inc. Makes New $255,000 Investment in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 597 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.00.

WD-40 Stock Up 1.2%

WD-40 stock opened at $193.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00 and a beta of 0.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.11. WD-40 Company has a 12 month low of $187.40 and a 12 month high of $292.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $163.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.90 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 14.68%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 EPS. WD-40 has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.750-6.150 EPS. Equities analysts predict that WD-40 Company will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 20th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 20th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WD-40 news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer bought 200 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $200.46 per share, with a total value of $40,092.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 5,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,730.10. This trade represents a 3.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel T. Carter bought 1,000 shares of WD-40 stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $199.37 per share, with a total value of $199,370.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 7,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,460.85. This represents a 16.12% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 2,640 shares of company stock worth $522,765. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About WD-40

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.