Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Shares in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,473,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Quaker Chemical by 2.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 24,633 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,257,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 133,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,111,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 54.2% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,035 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 21.4% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quaker Chemical Stock Up 1.3 %

Quaker Chemical stock opened at $190.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $198.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.49. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 1-year low of $138.67 and a 1-year high of $221.94.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $467.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be given a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 15th. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KWR. StockNews.com raised shares of Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th.

About Quaker Chemical

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.