William Osborne Sells 600 Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Stock

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Director William Osborne sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total transaction of $100,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,678.96. This represents a 49.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Quaker Houghton Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:KWR traded down $3.34 during trading on Thursday, reaching $167.68. The stock had a trading volume of 151,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,194. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $112.18 and a one year high of $183.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.40.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.53. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The firm had revenue of $532.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. Quaker Houghton’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.79%.

Quaker Houghton declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Houghton

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Quaker Houghton by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 12,341 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,211 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 29.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 95,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,836,000 after purchasing an additional 21,665 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 44.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 3,034 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KWR shares. Wall Street Zen raised Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Quaker Houghton from $177.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.67.

Quaker Houghton Company Profile

Quaker Houghton is a global provider of process fluids, chemical specialties and sustainable solutions for industrial applications. The company develops and supplies metalworking fluids, coatings, and corrosion inhibitors, as well as heat transfer, lubrication and additive products designed to improve productivity and extend equipment life. Its portfolio addresses a range of end markets including automotive, aerospace, defense, energy, mining, agriculture and heavy industry.

The company traces its roots back to the founding of Quaker Chemical Corporation in 1918 and Houghton International in 1865.