Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 4,947 Shares of Quaker Houghton $KWR

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,947 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Quaker Houghton worth $8,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Houghton during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,132,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Quaker Houghton by 86.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 115,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,811,000 after acquiring an additional 53,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Quaker Houghton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,982,000. Institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KWR has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Quaker Houghton from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quaker Houghton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quaker Houghton from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Quaker Houghton from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quaker Houghton news, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.77, for a total transaction of $106,557.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $983,655.96. This trade represents a 9.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Houghton Trading Down 4.1%

Quaker Houghton stock opened at $137.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.62. Quaker Houghton has a 12 month low of $111.32 and a 12 month high of $183.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 489.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.43.

Quaker Houghton (NYSE:KWR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.03). Quaker Houghton had a return on equity of 9.03% and a net margin of 0.22%.The company had revenue of $480.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quaker Houghton will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Houghton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.508 per share. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. Quaker Houghton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 725.00%.

Quaker Houghton declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 10.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Quaker Houghton 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.