Royce & Associates LP Purchases 120,916 Shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 555,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,916 shares during the quarter. Quaker Chemical accounts for about 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Royce & Associates LP owned 3.12% of Quaker Chemical worth $78,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 41.1% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $445,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 12.7% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 5.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 50.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,488,000. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quaker Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KWR opened at $128.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.41. Quaker Chemical Co. has a twelve month low of $124.66 and a twelve month high of $207.83.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.33 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $444.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KWR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of Quaker Chemical in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Quaker Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

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.