King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 855 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 0.12% of Quaker Chemical worth $4,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KWR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 507.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 294,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,123,000 after purchasing an additional 245,993 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $29,226,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 681,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,999,000 after purchasing an additional 80,043 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 328,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,160,000 after purchasing an additional 67,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Quaker Chemical by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 281,367 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,056,000 after purchasing an additional 25,442 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Chemical Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:KWR traded down $3.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $186.33. 6,024 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 81,480. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.48. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 52 week low of $138.67 and a 52 week high of $221.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $194.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $469.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $494.53 million. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 6.16% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Chemical announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 17th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KWR. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Quaker Chemical in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $220.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Quaker Chemical Company 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.