Walleye Capital LLC Invests $1.35 Million in Quaker Houghton $KWR

Key Points

• Walleye Capital LLC acquired a stake of 10,912 shares in Quaker Houghton during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $1.35 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.508 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.4%, to be paid on October 31st.
• Several analysts have rated Quaker Houghton with a "Moderate Buy" consensus and a target price averaging $150.75.

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,349,000. Walleye Capital LLC owned about 0.06% of Quaker Houghton at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 119.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in 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 valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 200.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company's stock.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 5.5%

NYSE KWR traded down $7.77 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.41. 177,372 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 170,470. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Quaker Houghton has a 12-month low of $95.91 and a 12-month high of $180.96. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -310.99, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.11). The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.508 per share. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -451.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KWR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quaker Houghton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued 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 target price on Quaker Houghton and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Company 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.