Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WDFC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in WD-40 in the 2nd quarter worth about $505,734,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,650,622 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $325,007,000 after buying an additional 47,528 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 533,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $105,467,000 after buying an additional 32,333 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $83,883,000 after buying an additional 121,358 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in WD-40 by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 405,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,778,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Price Performance

WDFC stock opened at $217.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. WD-40 Company has a 12 month low of $175.38 and a 12 month high of $298.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $234.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.28.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $195.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.79 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 33.53% and a net margin of 13.23%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. WD-40 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.050-6.350 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that WD-40 Company will post 6.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 62.01%.

Insider Transactions at WD-40

In other WD-40 news, insider Patricia Q. Olsem sold 200 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 4,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,609.28. This trade represents a 4.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WDFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded WD-40 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Northcoast Research raised WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. 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 report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $305.00.

About WD-40

WD-40 Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is best known for its flagship WD-40® Multi-Use Product, a water-displacing spray used for lubrication, rust prevention and cleaning. Since its introduction in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 brand has become a household and industrial staple. Over time, the company has broadened its portfolio to include complementary maintenance and cleaning brands such as 3-IN-ONE® oils, Lava® hand cleaners, Solvol® solvents, Spot Shot® stain removers and X-14® cleaning products.

WD-40 Company distributes its products in more than 176 countries through retail, industrial and automotive channels.