Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $470,000 in Quaker Houghton $KWR

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has acquired a new stake, buying 3,800 shares of Quaker Houghton, valued at approximately $470,000, in its latest filing with the SEC.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their positions in Quaker Houghton, leading to institutional ownership rising to 77.46% of the company's stock.
• Quaker Houghton has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.508 per share, up from the previous $0.49, with an ex-dividend date set for October 17th.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KWR. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 400.0% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 390.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted 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 acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings 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 worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 200.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on KWR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 price objective on Quaker Houghton and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, June 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

NYSE KWR traded down $6.89 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $134.28. 248,969 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 138,347. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.72. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $95.91 and a 1 year 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 has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -312.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.44.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $483.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $463.57 million. Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.508 dividend. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.