Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stock Holdings in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 200,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 4,859 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.14% of Quaker Houghton worth $24,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in Quaker Houghton during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Quaker Houghton by 24.8% during the fourth 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. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $159.25.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:KWR traded down $2.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $119.18. 148,773 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 145,108. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Quaker Houghton has a 52-week low of $95.91 and a 52-week high of $184.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business's fifty day moving average is $114.85 and its 200-day moving average is $121.88.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $442.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.23 million. Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 5.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.67%.

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.