Alberta Investment Management Corp Invests $1.09 Million in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WDFC. Covestor Ltd increased its position in WD-40 by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of WD-40 by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 28.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in WD-40 by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in WD-40 by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Stock Performance

WD-40 stock opened at $229.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 43.89 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. WD-40 has a 1 year low of $211.03 and a 1 year high of $292.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $238.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.87.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. WD-40 had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 31.68%. The business had revenue of $153.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. WD-40’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 72.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $322.00 target price on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.