Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

by · The Markets Daily

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWRGet Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $187.6667.

KWR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Quaker Houghton from $177.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Read Our Latest Report on KWR

Quaker Houghton Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of KWR opened at $170.26 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $153.92 and its 200 day moving average is $146.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Quaker Houghton has a 12-month low of $112.18 and a 12-month high of $183.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWRGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $532.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.63 million. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 9.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.19%.

Quaker Houghton declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Quaker Houghton news, Director William H. Osborne sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total transaction of $100,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,678.96. This represents a 49.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.77, for a total value of $106,557.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $983,655.96. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quaker Houghton

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Quaker Houghton during the 2nd quarter worth $335,290,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,942,000 after buying an additional 95,100 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 755,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $103,771,000 after buying an additional 121,854 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 5.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,271,000 after buying an additional 38,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 596,618 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,785,000 after buying an additional 50,264 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quaker Houghton Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Quaker Houghton is a global provider of process fluids, chemical specialties and sustainable solutions for industrial applications. The company develops and supplies metalworking fluids, coatings, and corrosion inhibitors, as well as heat transfer, lubrication and additive products designed to improve productivity and extend equipment life. Its portfolio addresses a range of end markets including automotive, aerospace, defense, energy, mining, agriculture and heavy industry.

The company traces its roots back to the founding of Quaker Chemical Corporation in 1918 and Houghton International in 1865.

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