Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases 54,800 Shares of Quaker Houghton $KWR

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 26.6%, owning 260,665 shares valued at approximately $32.22 million as of the last filing.
• Quaker Houghton reported a 4.3% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, although its earnings per share missed estimates by $0.11.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $0.508 per share, marking an annualized payout of $2.03 with a yield of 1.4%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 26.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,665 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,800 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 1.47% of Quaker Houghton worth $32,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 13.0% in 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 buying an additional 51,393 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 12.0% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 420,269 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $51,949,000 after purchasing an additional 44,895 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 5.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 417,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $51,681,000 after purchasing an additional 23,189 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,092 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $53,221,000 after purchasing an additional 17,048 shares during the period. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 2.9% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 323,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $39,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,955 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company's stock.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KWR traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $145.17. The company had a trading volume of 219,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 156,094. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -337.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.38. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $95.91 and a 1 year high of $180.96. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $126.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.71.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $483.40 million during 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%. Quaker Houghton's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.508 per share. This is a positive change from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio is -451.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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