Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 22,000 Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $3,097,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Quaker Chemical as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KWR. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 665 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 697 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 10,163.6% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,129 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on KWR. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quaker Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Quaker Chemical Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of KWR traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.71. 172,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 134,542. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 1-year low of $95.91 and a 1-year high of $193.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $107.69 and a 200 day moving average of $130.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.42.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.06. Quaker Chemical had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 6.58%. The business had revenue of $442.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Quaker Chemical's payout ratio is currently 36.67%.

Quaker Chemical 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.