Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of Quaker Houghton worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 75,954 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,389,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 390.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 119.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Shares of KWR opened at $117.63 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.78. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $95.91 and a one year high of $184.79.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.06. Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 5.20%. The firm had revenue of $442.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.