Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Trading 4.9% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Quaker Houghton's stock price increased by 4.9% to $119.98, despite a significant drop in trading volume, which was down 78% from average levels.
• Jefferies Financial Group upgraded the company's rating from "hold" to "buy" with a new price target of $146.00, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.508, up from $0.49, indicating a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $118.28 and last traded at $119.98. 37,225 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 171,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.80. 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 company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -291.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.38.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.11). Quaker Houghton had a positive return on equity of 8.35% and a negative net margin of 0.39%. The business had revenue of $483.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a $0.508 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Quaker Houghton's dividend payout ratio is presently -451.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quaker Houghton

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 390.5% during 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 grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 119.7% during 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, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 665 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company's stock.

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.