Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Receives $150.75 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $150.75.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 price objective on Quaker Houghton and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

KWR stock opened at $131.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $136.35 and a 200-day moving average of $120.71. Quaker Houghton has a 12-month low of $95.91 and a 12-month high of $180.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -305.58, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.11). Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The company had revenue of $483.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Quaker Houghton’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.508 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is presently -451.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 75,954 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 390.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Quaker Houghton by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Quaker Houghton

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.