GW&K Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 323,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,955 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 1.83% of Quaker Houghton worth $39,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Quaker Houghton during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,978,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 759,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $106,870,000 after buying an additional 122,494 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quaker Houghton during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,399,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 92.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 187,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,423,000 after purchasing an additional 90,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the fourth quarter worth about $11,951,000. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quaker Houghton Trading Up 3.8%

KWR stock traded up $4.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $122.09. The company had a trading volume of 140,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,123. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Quaker Houghton has a 52 week low of $95.91 and a 52 week high of $184.79. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $114.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.78. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.37.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $455.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quaker Houghton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Quaker Houghton from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.