Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KWR. Zacks Research cut Quaker Houghton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $198.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quaker Houghton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.00.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

KWR opened at $151.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.44. Quaker Houghton has a fifty-two week low of $112.18 and a fifty-two week high of $183.01.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 4.80%. The company had revenue of $544.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. Quaker Houghton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Quaker Houghton

In related news, Director William Osborne sold 600 shares of Quaker Houghton stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,678.96. This trade represents a 49.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Houghton

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Quaker Houghton in the second quarter worth approximately $4,334,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 2nd quarter valued at $706,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the second quarter worth $37,045,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Quaker Houghton during the second quarter worth $1,087,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 35.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 69,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,651,000 after buying an additional 18,405 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Quaker Houghton

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) is a global provider of industrial process fluids and chemical products used in manufacturing and other heavy industries. The company develops, produces and supplies fluids, lubricants, cleaners, corrosion preventives and specialty chemical solutions designed to support metalworking, forming, treating and finishing processes.

Its products are used by customers in industries including steel, aluminum, automotive, aerospace, mining, machinery, metal packaging and other general manufacturing markets.