Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 2,205 Shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,205 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Quaker Chemical were worth $5,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of KWR. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 856 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Quaker Chemical Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Quaker Chemical stock opened at $189.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $195.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 52-week low of $138.67 and a 52-week high of $221.94. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.48.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $469.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $494.53 million. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 6.16% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Quaker Chemical announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.