Palisade Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 53,733 Quaker Houghton $KWR

Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 53,733 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,537,000. Palisade Capital Management LP owned about 0.31% of Quaker Houghton as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 114.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after purchasing an additional 12,341 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,211 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $11,836,000 after buying an additional 21,665 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 44.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,220,000 after buying an additional 3,034 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $187.00.

Insider Transactions at Quaker Houghton

In other Quaker Houghton news, Director William H. Osborne sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total value of $100,986.00. Following the sale, the director owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,678.96. The trade was a 49.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

Shares of KWR stock opened at $165.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $158.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Quaker Houghton has a 12 month low of $112.18 and a 12 month high of $183.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.40.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.72 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.19%.

Quaker Houghton announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.