New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Position in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,041 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.12% of Quaker Chemical worth $4,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at $82,000. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KWR. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Quaker Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KWR opened at $193.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.95, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $198.96 and a 200 day moving average of $186.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.52. Quaker Chemical Co. has a one year low of $138.67 and a one year high of $221.94.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $467.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $470.55 million. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 15th. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Quaker Chemical Company Profile

Quaker Chemical Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets various formulated specialty chemical products for a range of heavy industrial and manufacturing applications in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It offers metal removal fluids, cleaning fluids, corrosion inhibitors, metal drawing and forming fluids, die-cast mold releases, heat treatment and quenchants, metal forging fluids, hydraulic fluids, specialty greases, offshore sub-sea energy control fluids, rolling lubricants, rod and wire drawing fluids, and surface treatment chemicals.