WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $264.78, but opened at $249.72. WD-40 shares last traded at $253.82, with a volume of 34,306 shares.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $156.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 32.43% and a net margin of 12.07%. WD-40’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share.

WD-40 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson reduced their price target 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at about $20,491,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 80.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 69,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 31,055 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in WD-40 in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,180,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 83.6% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 26,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,642,000 after purchasing an additional 11,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,623,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $411,374,000 after buying an additional 6,532 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WD-40 Stock Down 2.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.33 and a beta of -0.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.43.

WD-40 Company Profile

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.