US Bancorp DE Boosts Stock Holdings in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE significantly increased its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 490.8% in Q1, resulting in ownership of 3,616 shares valued at $447,000.
• Quaker Houghton reported a negative net margin of 0.39% in its latest earnings release, generating $483.40 million in revenue, which exceeded analyst expectations.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.508 per share, payable on October 31st, reflecting a yield of 1.5%.

US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 490.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,004 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Quaker Houghton were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,512 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,671 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,598 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 7.8% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 price objective on Quaker Houghton and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quaker Houghton presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Shares of KWR traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.40. 82,764 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 173,496. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.52. Quaker Houghton has a 12-month low of $95.91 and a 12-month high of $180.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -314.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.38.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The firm had revenue of $483.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $463.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This is a positive change from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -451.16%.

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.