Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $136.72 and last traded at $137.04, with a volume of 56930 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $140.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KWR. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Quaker Chemical from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $190.00 to $182.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quaker Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Quaker Chemical from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Quaker Chemical Trading Down 3.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.34.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by ($0.19). Quaker Chemical had a return on equity of 10.10% and a net margin of 6.58%. The business had revenue of $462.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

Quaker Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Quaker Chemical's payout ratio is 28.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeewat Bijlani sold 645 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.98, for a total transaction of $107,057.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $787,907.06. This trade represents a 11.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Slinkman sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.80, for a total value of $285,260.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $474,035. This represents a 37.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Quaker Chemical

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 3.5% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 4,733 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 95.9% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,698 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Quaker Chemical by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 42,587 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $7,227,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,750,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Quaker Chemical by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,029 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. 77.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Quaker Chemical

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.