GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 44,796 Shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 60,535.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,870 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,796 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.25% of Quaker Chemical worth $5,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 665 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 10,163.6% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,129 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $194,000. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Chemical Stock Up 9.6%

NYSE:KWR opened at $120.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.54. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 52-week low of $95.91 and a 52-week high of $193.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.77.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $442.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $455.23 million. Quaker Chemical had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 6.58%. Quaker Chemical’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Quaker Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Quaker Chemical from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.25.

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.