Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

KWR has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quaker Chemical from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Quaker Chemical from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Quaker Chemical Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:KWR opened at $157.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.85 and its 200 day moving average is $168.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Quaker Chemical has a 12 month low of $151.31 and a 12 month high of $221.94.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $462.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $469.17 million. Quaker Chemical had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 6.58%. The company’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Chemical will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is 28.45%.

Insider Activity at Quaker Chemical

In other news, SVP David Slinkman sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.80, for a total value of $285,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,035. This trade represents a 37.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.98, for a total transaction of $107,057.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,747 shares in the company, valued at $787,907.06. This represents a 11.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Pacific Financial bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Quaker Chemical by 105.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 156 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 36.8% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 286 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 50.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical during the second quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

About Quaker Chemical

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.