AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR - Free Report) by 152.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,511 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,929 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Quaker Chemical were worth $1,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KWR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,607,511 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $329,942,000 after buying an additional 8,484 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 359,617 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $61,027,000 after acquiring an additional 46,240 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Quaker Chemical by 337.0% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 224,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,014,000 after acquiring an additional 172,750 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical by 3.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 138,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $23,568,000 after purchasing an additional 4,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Quaker Chemical by 2,077.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 138,239 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $23,459,000 after purchasing an additional 131,891 shares during the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KWR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Quaker Chemical from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Quaker Chemical from $220.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quaker Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Quaker Chemical Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KWR stock traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $161.60. 67,555 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 94,440. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.40. Quaker Chemical Co. has a fifty-two week low of $138.67 and a fifty-two week high of $221.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.08). Quaker Chemical had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $463.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. The company's revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Quaker Chemical's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 17th. Quaker Chemical's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

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.