Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 30,372 WD-40 Company $WDFC

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 30,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 549 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 3,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in WD-40 by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 474 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in WD-40 by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 2.5% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WDFC. Zacks Research raised WD-40 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Northcoast Research raised WD-40 to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patricia Q. Olsem sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.73, for a total transaction of $70,119.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,115,827.02. The trade was a 5.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Stock Performance

WDFC opened at $212.08 on Thursday. WD-40 Company has a 52-week low of $175.38 and a 52-week high of $298.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.74.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $195.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. WD-40 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.050-6.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WD-40 Company will post 6.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 17th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.01%.

WD-40 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.