Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WDFC. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in WD-40 during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in WD-40 by 57.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 216 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in WD-40 during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in WD-40 by 41.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 463 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on WD-40 from $313.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th.

WD-40 Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WDFC stock opened at $260.59 on Friday. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $194.09 and a 1 year high of $278.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $242.13. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 51.20 and a beta of -0.08.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $155.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.80 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.43% and a net margin of 12.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that WD-40 will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is 69.16%.

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.