Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in 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 grew its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.58% of Quaker Houghton worth $12,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KWR. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 390.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 119.7% in the first 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. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 573.1% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 875 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 price target on shares of Quaker Houghton and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quaker Houghton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quaker Houghton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Quaker Houghton stock opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. Quaker Houghton has a fifty-two week low of $95.91 and a fifty-two week high of $180.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -335.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $124.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.44.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $463.57 million. Quaker Houghton had a positive return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 0.39%.The firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.508 per share. This is a boost from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio is currently -451.16%.

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.

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