Quaker Houghton $KWR Shares Acquired by Jump Financial LLC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 205.5%, owning 13,017 shares worth approximately $1.61 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Quaker Houghton recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.508 per share, up from $0.49, with a 1.4% dividend yield.
• Analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus on Quaker Houghton with a price target of $150.75, reflecting positive sentiment despite a recent earnings miss.

Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 205.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,756 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC owned 0.07% of Quaker Houghton worth $1,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 445,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $62,689,000 after purchasing an additional 51,393 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,368 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 208,105 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $29,293,000 after purchasing an additional 29,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $494,000. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of KWR stock traded down $4.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $136.72. The company had a trading volume of 22,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,539. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -318.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.44. 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 current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company's fifty day moving average is $127.70 and its 200 day moving average is $120.62.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $483.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.57 million. Quaker Houghton had a positive return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 0.39%.Quaker Houghton's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.508 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Quaker Houghton's payout ratio is currently -451.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.