King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 17,349 Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in Quaker Houghton by 73.7% during the 1st quarter, leaving it with a holding valued at $765,000.
• Quaker Houghton recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.508 per share, up from $0.49, with a dividend yield of 1.5%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Quaker Houghton, with an average price target of $150.75.

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 73.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,185 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 17,349 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Quaker Houghton were worth $765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 16.1% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 2,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 11.5% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,185,000 after buying an additional 5,148 shares during the last quarter. Hosking Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the first quarter valued at $5,303,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 9.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 184,220 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $22,771,000 after buying an additional 16,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 490.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 3,004 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

KWR stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $135.40. The stock had a trading volume of 82,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,934. Quaker Houghton has a 52 week low of $95.91 and a 52 week high of $180.96. The stock's 50 day moving average is $121.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of -314.88, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.38.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.11). Quaker Houghton had a positive return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 0.39%. The company had revenue of $483.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a $0.508 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio is -472.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quaker Houghton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 target price on Quaker Houghton and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Company 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.