Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Quaker Chemical from $220.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Quaker Chemical from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Quaker Chemical Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of KWR opened at $162.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $164.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Quaker Chemical has a 52-week low of $138.67 and a 52-week high of $221.94.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $463.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.68 million. Quaker Chemical had a return on equity of 10.49% and a net margin of 6.56%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Quaker Chemical will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 17th. This is a positive change from Quaker Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the first quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial purchased a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Quaker Chemical by 105.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 156 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Quaker Chemical during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 36.8% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 286 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.