Quaker Houghton $KWR Stock: Royce & Associates LP Increases Stake

Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 867,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,295 shares during the quarter. Quaker Houghton makes up about 1.2% of Royce & Associates LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Royce & Associates LP owned 5.05% of Quaker Houghton worth $136,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 23.5% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 162,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,696,000 after purchasing an additional 31,016 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 72.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 425 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 8.4% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 97,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,421,000 after purchasing an additional 7,567 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Quaker Houghton by 2.8% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,403 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 51.4% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 3,039 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KWR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Quaker Houghton from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton from $202.00 to $192.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.00.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

Shares of Quaker Houghton stock traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $155.41. 137,966 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,484. Quaker Houghton has a fifty-two week low of $112.18 and a fifty-two week high of $183.01. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $544.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.88 million. Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 4.80% and a return on equity of 9.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Profile

Quaker Houghton is a global provider of industrial process fluids and specialty chemicals. Its products include metalworking fluids, industrial lubricants, hydraulic fluids, cleaners, corrosion-prevention products, and coatings used in manufacturing and other industrial operations. The company serves customers across industries such as steel and aluminum production, automotive, aerospace, mining, and general machinery. Its solutions are designed to support processes including metal forming, machining, heat treatment, and equipment operation.