Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Invests $1.36 Million in Quaker Houghton $KWR

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,594 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quaker Houghton during the second quarter worth $471,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the 2nd quarter valued at $307,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 224,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,831,000 after buying an additional 45,339 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 199,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,766,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quaker Houghton news, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of Quaker Houghton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.77, for a total transaction of $106,557.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $983,655.96. The trade was a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Osborne sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total transaction of $100,986.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 616 shares in the company, valued at $103,678.96. The trade was a 49.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KWR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Quaker Houghton from $177.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.67.

Quaker Houghton Stock Down 0.0%

Quaker Houghton stock opened at $170.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $155.13 and its 200-day moving average is $146.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. Quaker Houghton has a fifty-two week low of $112.18 and a fifty-two week high of $183.01.

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

Quaker Houghton announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

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

About Quaker Houghton

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.