Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Acquires 17,350 Shares of Quaker Houghton $KWR

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 20.4% during the first quarter, owning 102,250 shares valued at approximately $12.6 million.
• Quaker Houghton has received positive analyst ratings, with Deutsche Bank reaffirming a "buy" rating and Jefferies Financial Group upgrading to a "buy" with a price objective of $146.00.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.508 per share on October 31, 2023, representing an increase from its previous dividend of $0.49.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.58% of Quaker Houghton worth $12,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 400.0% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 390.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 119.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Quaker Houghton by 573.1% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 875 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company's stock.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:KWR traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $145.17. 219,581 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 148,228. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -337.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.44. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $95.91 and a one year high of $180.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $483.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.57 million. Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.508 dividend. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio is presently -472.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KWR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quaker Houghton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 price objective on Quaker Houghton and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton 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.