Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $109.65, but opened at $114.20. Quaker Chemical shares last traded at $119.25, with a volume of 42,491 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KWR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Quaker Chemical from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quaker Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $146.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Quaker Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quaker Chemical currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $159.25.

Quaker Chemical Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $106.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $442.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $455.23 million. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 6.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Quaker Chemical's payout ratio is 36.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KWR. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,978,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,190,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 759,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $106,870,000 after buying an additional 122,494 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $78,153,000 after buying an additional 120,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,399,000. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Quaker Chemical

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.