Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Makes New $11.95 Million Investment in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 84,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,951,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KWR. Finward Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $291,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,149,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 665 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $28,978,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Quaker Chemical by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,160 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quaker Chemical Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:KWR opened at $100.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.54. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 52 week low of $95.91 and a 52 week high of $197.03. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last released its 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 net margin of 6.58% and a return on equity of 10.10%. The business had revenue of $444.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 29.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KWR shares. StockNews.com lowered Quaker Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Quaker Chemical from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $172.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research 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.