Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Sells 55,133 Shares of Quaker Houghton $KWR

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 55,133 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.33% of Quaker Houghton worth $7,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KWR. F m Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quaker Houghton by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 12,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Quaker Houghton by 7.1% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Quaker Houghton by 1.7% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 6.9% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 2,073 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 3.4% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,035 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KWR. Zacks Research raised Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Quaker Houghton from $190.00 to $184.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.67.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

Shares of Quaker Houghton stock opened at $129.69 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $155.97 and a 200 day moving average of $143.37. Quaker Houghton has a 52 week low of $95.91 and a 52 week high of $183.01. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of -1,080.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.13% and a positive return on equity of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $468.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $465.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 16th will be given a $0.508 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $2.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,691.67%.

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.