Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) to "Buy"

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $146.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential upside of 24.36% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on KWR. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quaker Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quaker Chemical presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $159.25.

Quaker Chemical Stock Down 1.7%

Quaker Chemical stock traded down $2.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $117.41. 54,608 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 137,413. The company's 50-day moving average is $106.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.54. Quaker Chemical has a 52-week low of $95.91 and a 52-week high of $193.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Chemical

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 16,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quaker Chemical 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 during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Quaker Chemical by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Quaker Chemical by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,671 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quaker Chemical by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.