153,900 Shares in Quaker Houghton $KWR Bought by Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd.

Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 153,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,132,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KWR. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 284.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 165.0% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 348 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KWR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $203.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quaker Houghton news, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.77, for a total transaction of $106,557.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $983,655.96. The trade was a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quaker Houghton Stock Down 0.0%

KWR opened at $140.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.21. Quaker Houghton has a 52 week low of $108.49 and a 52 week high of $183.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 502.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.03). Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 0.22%.The company had revenue of $480.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Quaker Houghton will post 7.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.508 per share. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is presently 725.00%.

Quaker Houghton declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.