Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $141.12 and traded as high as $147.75. Quaker Houghton shares last traded at $147.4960, with a volume of 87,581 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $203.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 526.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.42.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.03). Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company had revenue of $480.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th were given a dividend of $0.508 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 16th. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is presently 725.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $103,942,000 after acquiring an additional 95,100 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 755,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $103,771,000 after acquiring an additional 121,854 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,271,000 after acquiring an additional 38,261 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $66,785,000 after acquiring an additional 50,264 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 469,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,533,000 after acquiring an additional 118,321 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

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.