D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Holdings in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,874 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $6,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in WD-40 by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,857,000 after purchasing an additional 11,786 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in WD-40 in the 4th quarter worth approximately $241,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in WD-40 by 456.4% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 41,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,127,000 after purchasing an additional 34,229 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in WD-40 in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,178,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in WD-40 by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WD-40 Price Performance

WDFC opened at $245.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. WD-40 has a 52-week low of $208.00 and a 52-week high of $292.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 47.06 and a beta of 0.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $232.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.00.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm had revenue of $146.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.42 EPS for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sara Kathleen Hyzer purchased 256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $222.83 per share, for a total transaction of $57,044.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $907,363.76. This trade represents a 6.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.