Jeewat Bijlani Sells 731 Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Stock

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.77, for a total value of $106,557.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $983,655.96. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Quaker Houghton Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE KWR traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $147.58. 126,673 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 164,488. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $103.36 and a 1 year high of $183.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 527.09, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.97.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.03). Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company had revenue of $480.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $463.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quaker Houghton will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.508 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is presently 725.00%.

Quaker Houghton declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Quaker Houghton

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,035,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 1,897.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 321,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,376,000 after purchasing an additional 305,537 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 87,777 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,271 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 278,576 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,251,000 after purchasing an additional 24,573 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 633,886 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $83,514,000 after purchasing an additional 19,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on KWR. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Quaker Houghton from $203.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Seaport Research Partners raised Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Quaker Houghton from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quaker Houghton has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

About Quaker Houghton

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.