Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Quaker Houghton from $203.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

Quaker Houghton Price Performance

Shares of KWR opened at $141.72 on Thursday. Quaker Houghton has a 1-year low of $103.36 and a 1-year high of $183.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 506.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.63.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.03). Quaker Houghton had a net margin of 0.22% and a return on equity of 9.03%. The company had revenue of $480.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $463.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. Quaker Houghton’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quaker Houghton will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Houghton declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 10.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new position in Quaker Houghton in the third quarter valued at $5,035,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 1,897.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 321,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,376,000 after purchasing an additional 305,537 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Quaker Houghton by 10.4% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 87,777 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,271 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 278,576 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,251,000 after acquiring an additional 24,573 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Quaker Houghton by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 633,886 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $83,514,000 after purchasing an additional 19,788 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quaker Houghton Company Profile

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.