Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) Short Interest Update

Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, a decline of 6.8% from the March 15th total of 1,170,000 shares. Approximately 7.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 81,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.4 days.

Quaker Chemical Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE KWR opened at $188.43 on Thursday. Quaker Chemical has a 12 month low of $138.67 and a 12 month high of $221.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $198.99 and a 200-day moving average of $186.78. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.49.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $467.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.55 million. Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quaker Chemical will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 28th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 15th. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 345.9% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 65.0% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 193 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Quaker Chemical during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 77.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quaker Chemical Company 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.