Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 26,047 Shares of Quaker Houghton $KWR

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 49.6%, now owning approximately 0.44% of the company with a total value of $9.71 million.
• Quaker Houghton is set to increase its quarterly dividend from $0.49 to $0.508, with the dividend payout scheduled for October 31st.
• The stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average price target of $150.75.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 49.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,556 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,047 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.44% of Quaker Houghton worth $9,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 390.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 119.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KWR shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

KWR traded up $7.3020 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $144.2120. The company had a trading volume of 189,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 154,947. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of -335.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.38. Quaker Houghton has a twelve month low of $95.91 and a twelve month high of $180.96. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $123.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.45.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates 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 was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is a boost from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quaker Houghton's payout ratio is -472.09%.

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.