GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 289 Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 390.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Quaker Houghton were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KWR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,978,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 759,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $106,870,000 after acquiring an additional 122,494 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,153,000 after acquiring an additional 120,916 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Quaker Houghton during the fourth quarter worth about $13,399,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 187,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,423,000 after buying an additional 90,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

KWR opened at $131.24 on Friday. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $95.91 and a one year high of $193.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.37.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.06. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business had revenue of $442.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Quaker Houghton’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.25.

About Quaker Houghton

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.