M&T Bank Corp Cuts Position in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its holdings in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,473 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Quaker Chemical were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KWR. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 299.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 482,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $80,479,000 after buying an additional 361,525 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,832,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 5.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,152,418 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $371,960,000 after buying an additional 115,746 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 7.4% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,359,780 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $203,314,000 after buying an additional 93,539 shares during the period. Finally, Eaton Vance Management raised its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 28.9% in the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 280,748 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,516,000 after buying an additional 62,896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KWR shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Quaker Chemical in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $220.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Quaker Chemical in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock.

Quaker Chemical Stock Up 1.2 %

KWR stock opened at $179.57 on Friday. Quaker Chemical Co. has a twelve month low of $129.06 and a twelve month high of $216.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 382.06, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.41.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.08. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 9.59%. The business had revenue of $495.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $507.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 16th. This is an increase from Quaker Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 370.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quaker Chemical news, EVP Melissa Leneis sold 4,445 shares of Quaker Chemical stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.61, for a total value of $869,486.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $621,648.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Quaker Chemical

Quaker Chemical Corporation develops, produces, and markets various formulated chemical specialty products for a range of heavy industrial and manufacturing applications. The company operates through four segments: Americas; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia/Pacific; and Global Specialty Businesses.