Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 2,193 Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 75,954 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,193 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Quaker Houghton worth $9,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,638,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,624,000 after buying an additional 23,832 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 759,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $106,870,000 after purchasing an additional 122,494 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 445,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,689,000 after purchasing an additional 51,393 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 420,269 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,949,000 after purchasing an additional 44,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 417,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,681,000 after purchasing an additional 23,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 3.0%

NYSE KWR opened at $126.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.43. Quaker Houghton has a 52 week low of $95.91 and a 52 week high of $193.74.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $442.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.23 million. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 8.86%. Quaker Houghton’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 17th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.54%. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.25.

Quaker Houghton 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.