State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 234 Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 3.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Quaker Houghton were worth $938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KWR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 4th quarter valued at $28,978,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 759,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $106,870,000 after buying an additional 122,494 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 555,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,153,000 after buying an additional 120,916 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 4th quarter valued at $13,399,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 92.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 187,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,423,000 after buying an additional 90,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Houghton Stock Performance

Shares of Quaker Houghton stock opened at $116.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.68 and its 200 day moving average is $124.45. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $95.91 and a 1 year high of $193.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $442.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.23 million. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 8.86%. Quaker Houghton’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 17th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on KWR shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.25.

Quaker Houghton Profile

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.