WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Raised to Strong-Buy at Northcoast Research

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Northcoast Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on WD-40 from $300.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on WD-40 in a research report on Monday, April 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WD-40 has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.00.

WD-40 Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ WDFC opened at $246.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 41.85 and a beta of 0.30. WD-40 has a 12 month low of $175.38 and a 12 month high of $253.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $213.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $215.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $161.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $154.90 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 30.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WD-40

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WD-40 by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,650,622 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $325,007,000 after acquiring an additional 47,528 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 6.4% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 533,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $105,467,000 after buying an additional 32,333 shares in the last quarter. 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 0.5% during 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 buying an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in WD-40 by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 333,505 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,069,000 after acquiring an additional 65,423 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WD-40 Company Profile

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.