Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Shares Up 7% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) rose 7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $130.35 and last traded at $133.3950. Approximately 20,764 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 157,435 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KWR shares. Zacks Research cut Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $149.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.33.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -312.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.47. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $133.35 and a 200-day moving average of $125.66.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.14. Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The business had revenue of $493.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a $0.508 dividend. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is currently -414.29%.

Institutional Trading of Quaker Houghton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KWR. CWM LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 1.8% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,598 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the first quarter worth approximately $3,322,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 29.9% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,203 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 58,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,270,000 after acquiring an additional 10,405 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.