WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Receives “Buy” Rating from DA Davidson

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at DA Davidson in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $322.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target indicates a potential upside of 38.23% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

WD-40 Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDFC traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $232.94. 56,543 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 132,987. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 44.62 and a beta of -0.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.22. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $211.03 and a 1 year high of $292.36.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.68% and a net margin of 11.78%. The firm had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total transaction of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,310.30. The trade was a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WD-40

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in WD-40 by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of WD-40 by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 24.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,913,000 after purchasing an additional 10,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

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.