WCM Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Quaker Houghton $KWR

WCM Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 1.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 109,052 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,267 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Quaker Houghton were worth $12,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KWR. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Quaker Houghton by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Quaker Houghton by 390.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 363 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Quaker Houghton by 119.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 391 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Quaker Houghton by 573.1% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 875 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Quaker Houghton by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of KWR stock opened at $130.69 on Friday. Quaker Houghton has a 1 year low of $95.91 and a 1 year high of $180.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $136.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -303.92, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.42.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.11). Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 8.35%. The business had revenue of $483.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Houghton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.508 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This is a positive change from Quaker Houghton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Quaker Houghton’s payout ratio is presently -451.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KWR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quaker Houghton in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $135.00 target price on shares of Quaker Houghton and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.75.

Quaker Houghton 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.