Brokerages Set Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) PT at $187.67

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $187.6667.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KWR. Seaport Research Partners raised 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. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $177.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Shares of Quaker Houghton stock opened at $171.16 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $152.82 and its 200-day moving average is $146.27. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $112.18 and a one year high of $183.01.

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

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. This is a positive change from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is 36.19%.

Quaker Houghton announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Quaker Houghton news, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares in the company, valued at $983,655.96. This trade represents a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William H. Osborne sold 600 shares of the business’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 value of $100,986.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 616 shares in the company, valued at $103,678.96. This trade represents a 49.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quaker Houghton

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 114.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 12,341 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,211 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 95,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,836,000 after purchasing an additional 21,665 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 44.4% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 3,034 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.