Zacks Research Upgrades Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) to Strong-Buy

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Quaker Houghton from $177.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $187.67.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

KWR stock opened at $170.00 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $152.25 and a 200-day moving average of $146.21. The company has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. 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 12-month low of $112.18 and a 12-month high of $183.01.

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

Quaker Houghton announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William H. Osborne sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total value of $100,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,678.96. The trade was a 49.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,748 shares in the company, valued at $983,655.96. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Quaker Houghton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $335,290,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,942,000 after buying an additional 95,100 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 755,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,771,000 after buying an additional 121,854 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 5.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,271,000 after buying an additional 38,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 9.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 596,618 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,785,000 after buying an additional 50,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

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.