Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Quaker Houghton from $203.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Quaker Houghton from $190.00 to $184.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.50.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

Shares of KWR stock opened at $127.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,061.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $98.25 and a one year high of $183.01.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $468.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $465.17 million. Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.13% and a positive return on equity of 8.99%. Quaker Houghton’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Quaker Houghton

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 1,897.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 321,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,376,000 after acquiring an additional 305,537 shares during the period. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the third quarter valued at $5,035,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 10.4% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 87,777 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,271 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 163.4% during the third quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 31,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 19,446 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton during the third quarter valued at $46,331,000. Institutional investors 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.