Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) Shares Down 3.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)’s stock price traded down 3.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $170.00 to $140.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Quaker Chemical traded as low as $119.68 and last traded at $119.72. 15,598 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 154,804 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.67.

KWR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quaker Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quaker Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KWR. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 665 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 697 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $153,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quaker Chemical Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.30.

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

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 29.80%.

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.