Heartland Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 48,409 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,814,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Quaker Chemical by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 697 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in Quaker Chemical by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KWR. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of Quaker Chemical in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quaker Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Quaker Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KWR opened at $125.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.54. Quaker Chemical Co. has a one year low of $124.00 and a one year high of $207.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $136.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.01.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $444.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.47 million. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 6.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.80%.

Quaker Chemical Profile

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.