Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Boosts Position in Quaker Houghton $KWR

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 67,340.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,835 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Quaker Houghton were worth $2,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after buying an additional 12,341 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Quaker Houghton by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,211 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 29.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 44.4% in the first 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KWR. Wall Street Zen lowered Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Seaport Research Partners raised Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Quaker Houghton from $203.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quaker Houghton presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Shares of KWR opened at $146.39 on Wednesday. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $103.36 and a 1 year high of $183.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 522.84, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.45.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $480.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $463.70 million. Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 0.22%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $0.508 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is currently 725.00%.

Quaker Houghton Profile

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.