Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) Price Target to $175.00

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) had its price objective lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $203.00 to $175.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

KWR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Quaker Houghton from $190.00 to $184.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quaker Houghton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.50.

Quaker Houghton Trading Up 5.3%

KWR opened at $128.80 on Monday. Quaker Houghton has a one year low of $96.17 and a one year high of $183.01. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,073.20, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.42.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.06). Quaker Houghton had a negative net margin of 0.13% and a positive return on equity of 8.99%. The business had revenue of $468.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $465.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Quaker Houghton will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 16th will be given a $0.508 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 16th. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio is -1,691.67%.

Institutional Trading of Quaker Houghton

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 8,105 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is 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.