Texas Permanent School Fund sells 224 shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

By Jane V. Brewer Last updated Jul 28, 2023

The Texas Permanent School Fund reduced its stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund held 9,703 shares of the specialty chemicals company after selling 224 shares during the period. The Texas Permanent School Fund held approximately 0.07% of WD-40 worth $1,778,000 when last filed with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently changed their positions in the stock. Haverford Trust Co purchased a new equity stake in WD-40 in Q1 worth approximately $247,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in WD-40 shares by 6.8% in Q1. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company valued at $1,985,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in WD-40 shares by 1.6% in Q1. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,137 shares of the specialty chemicals company valued at $830,000 after buying 66 more shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in WD-40 shares by 145.9% in Q1. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company valued at $970,000 after buying 3,127 additional shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in WD-40 shares by 86.8% in the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,524 shares of the specialty chemicals company valued at $279,000 after buying 708 additional shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors hold 90.78% of the company’s shares.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In other news, Director Eric Etchart acquired 500 shares of WD-40 in a trade Thursday, August 4. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $177.60 per share, with a total value of $88,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the administrator now owns 5,692 shares of the company, valued at $1,010,899.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available via this link. 1.33% of the shares are held by insiders.

Changes to analyst ratings

Several equity research analysts have recently commented on WDFC shares. BWS Financial began covering WD-40 in a research report on Thursday, July 14. They set a “sell” rating and a target price of $88.00 on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded WD-40 from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a target price of $205.00 on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 18. Finally, TheStreet downgraded WD-40 from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a Friday, July 8 research report.

WD-40 stock up 2.9%

WDFC stock opened at $196.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.34 and a beta of -0.23. WD-40 has a fifty-two week low of $163.61 and a fifty-two week high of $255.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.72. The company has a debt ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.51.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC – Get Rating) last released its results on Thursday, July 7. The specialty chemicals company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.07 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 per ($0.21). The company posted revenue of $123.67 million in the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $142.80 million. WD-40 had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 30.75%. The company’s revenue was down 9.3% year-over-year. In the same period a year earlier, the company earned earnings per share of $1.52. On average, research analysts expect WD-40 to post earnings per share of 5.08 for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 29. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 15 received a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents an annualized dividend of $3.12 and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 14. The dividend payout ratio (DPR) of WD-40 is 70.43%.

WD-40 Company Profile

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WD-40 Company develops and sells janitorial, home care and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose cleaning products that include aerosols, non-aerosol trigger aerosols and bulk liquid products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand; and specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand, as well as various products under the WD-40 Bike brand.