Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $152.3333.

KWR has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $149.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th.

Quaker Houghton Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:KWR opened at $143.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.47. Quaker Houghton has a 52-week low of $95.91 and a 52-week high of $148.80. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of -292.01, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.26.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $493.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.06 million. Quaker Houghton had a positive return on equity of 8.64% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.508 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is currently -414.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KWR. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 176.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,094,000 after acquiring an additional 34,731 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 21.3% during the second quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 46,853 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 8,215 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 10.7% during the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 113,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,672,000 after purchasing an additional 10,950 shares during the last quarter. Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quaker Houghton during the second quarter worth about $280,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 151.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 912 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quaker Houghton Company Profile

Quaker Houghton is a global provider of process fluids, chemical specialties and sustainable solutions for industrial applications. The company develops and supplies metalworking fluids, coatings, and corrosion inhibitors, as well as heat transfer, lubrication and additive products designed to improve productivity and extend equipment life. Its portfolio addresses a range of end markets including automotive, aerospace, defense, energy, mining, agriculture and heavy industry.

The company traces its roots back to the founding of Quaker Chemical Corporation in 1918 and Houghton International in 1865.