Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Stake in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Quaker Chemical were worth $1,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KWR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 345.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the third quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KWR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Quaker Chemical Stock Performance

KWR stock opened at $189.51 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.66. Quaker Chemical Co. has a one year low of $138.67 and a one year high of $221.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.48.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 6.16% and a return on equity of 10.35%. The company had revenue of $469.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $494.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Quaker Chemical’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 17th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

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

About Quaker Chemical

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.