Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Quaker Chemical were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KWR. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Strs Ohio raised its position in Quaker Chemical by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth $82,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 14.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 856 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 77.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KWR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Quaker Chemical from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Quaker Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:KWR opened at $190.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Quaker Chemical Co. has a fifty-two week low of $138.67 and a fifty-two week high of $221.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $198.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.49.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 28th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 15th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Quaker Chemical 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.