Bessemer Group Inc. Has $5 Million Stock Holdings in WD-40 Company $WDFC

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 44.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,522 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $5,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 74,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,294,000 after purchasing an additional 10,265 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of WD-40 by 10,648.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 22,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after purchasing an additional 22,043 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in WD-40 by 4.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in WD-40 by 1.8% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 3,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd boosted its stake in WD-40 by 18.0% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of WD-40 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of WD-40 from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of WD-40 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Monday, April 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of WD-40 from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WD-40 currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.00.

WD-40 Price Performance

WD-40 stock opened at $239.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41 and a beta of 0.26. WD-40 Company has a one year low of $175.38 and a one year high of $298.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.40.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.75. WD-40 had a return on equity of 33.53% and a net margin of 13.23%.The firm had revenue of $195.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. WD-40 has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.050-6.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WD-40 Company will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WD-40 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. WD-40’s payout ratio is 62.01%.

WD-40 Profile

WD-40 Company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is best known for its flagship WD-40® Multi-Use Product, a water-displacing spray used for lubrication, rust prevention and cleaning. Since its introduction in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company, the WD-40 brand has become a household and industrial staple. Over time, the company has broadened its portfolio to include complementary maintenance and cleaning brands such as 3-IN-ONE® oils, Lava® hand cleaners, Solvol® solvents, Spot Shot® stain removers and X-14® cleaning products.

WD-40 Company distributes its products in more than 176 countries through retail, industrial and automotive channels.