Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on KWR. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton from $177.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quaker Houghton presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.67.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

KWR opened at $170.00 on Thursday. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $112.18 and a 1 year high of $183.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $532.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.63 million. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 9.55%. Quaker Houghton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.59 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quaker Houghton

In other news, Director William H. Osborne sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total value of $100,986.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,678.96. This trade represents a 49.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.77, for a total transaction of $106,557.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $983,655.96. This represents a 9.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton in the second quarter valued at about $335,290,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,942,000 after acquiring an additional 95,100 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 755,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,771,000 after acquiring an additional 121,854 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $93,271,000 after acquiring an additional 38,261 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 596,618 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,785,000 after acquiring an additional 50,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

About Quaker Houghton

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.