Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $77.51 Million Stake in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 319,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,389 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $77,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in WD-40 in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 41.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in WD-40 by 34.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in WD-40 by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 91.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,310.30. This represents a 11.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WDFC opened at $234.95 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $250.50 and a 200-day moving average of $257.28. WD-40 has a one year low of $211.03 and a one year high of $292.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.01 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.39 EPS 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 company had revenue of $153.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WDFC shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th.

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.