Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Quaker Houghton from “buy” to “hold.” Despite the downgrade, analysts collectively maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $188.
• Quaker Houghton reported quarterly earnings of $2.39 per share, beating estimates of $2.10, while revenue rose 10.3% year over year to $544.55 million.
• The stock opened at $151.03, down 4.3%, and institutional investors own 77.46% of the company. Director William Osborne also sold 600 shares, reducing his holdings by 49.34%.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on KWR. Zacks Research cut Quaker Houghton from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $198.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $188.00.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 4.3%

KWR opened at $151.03 on Friday. Quaker Houghton has a 12-month low of $112.18 and a 12-month high of $183.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $158.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.44.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.29. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 4.80% and a return on equity of 9.90%. The company had revenue of $544.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $522.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quaker Houghton news, Director William Osborne sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total value of $100,986.00. Following the sale, the director owned 616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,678.96. This trade represents a 49.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quaker Houghton

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton in the second quarter valued at $335,290,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Quaker Houghton by 5.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $93,271,000 after acquiring an additional 38,261 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,810,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,045,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,472,000. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Quaker Houghton

Quaker Houghton NYSE: KWR is a global provider of industrial process fluids and chemical products used in manufacturing and other heavy industries. The company develops, produces and supplies fluids, lubricants, cleaners, corrosion preventives and specialty chemical solutions designed to support metalworking, forming, treating and finishing processes.

Its products are used by customers in industries including steel, aluminum, automotive, aerospace, mining, machinery, metal packaging and other general manufacturing markets.

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