Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Stock Has Average Target Price of $188.00

Shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $188.00.

KWR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (up from $172.00) on shares of Quaker Houghton in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE KWR opened at $155.18 on Thursday. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $112.18 and a one year high of $183.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.30.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $532.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $504.63 million. Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 9.55% and a net margin of 4.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.5080. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 16th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Osborne sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.31, for a total transaction of $100,986.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,678.96. This trade represents a 49.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Houghton

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KWR. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Houghton in the second quarter worth $335,290,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 5.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 750,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $93,271,000 after buying an additional 38,261 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 2nd quarter worth about $66,810,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,045,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 199,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,766,000 after acquiring an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

About Quaker Houghton

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) is a global provider of industrial process fluids and chemical products used in manufacturing and other heavy industries. The company develops, produces and supplies fluids, lubricants, cleaners, corrosion preventives and specialty chemical solutions designed to support metalworking, forming, treating and finishing processes.

Its products are used by customers in industries including steel, aluminum, automotive, aerospace, mining, machinery, metal packaging and other general manufacturing markets.