William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Quaker Houghton $KWR

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 351,660 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,331,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 2.03% of Quaker Houghton as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the third quarter worth $28,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 33.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 4,779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Quaker Houghton during the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 90,383 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,908,000 after buying an additional 7,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 2.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KWR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $190.00 to $184.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $203.00 price target on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.67.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of KWR opened at $147.07 on Monday. Quaker Houghton has a twelve month low of $95.91 and a twelve month high of $183.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of -1,225.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.44.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $468.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $465.17 million. Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.13% and a positive return on equity of 8.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be paid a $0.508 dividend. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 16th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,691.67%.

Quaker Houghton Profile

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.