Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Takes Position in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,731 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KWR. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 172,750 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Quaker Chemical by 2,196.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 123,222 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,298,000 after buying an additional 117,857 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Quaker Chemical by 1,080.0% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 82,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,954,000 after acquiring an additional 75,600 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Quaker Chemical by 14.8% in the second 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 during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quaker Chemical in the second quarter worth about $5,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KWR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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 target on shares of Quaker Chemical from $220.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Quaker Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Quaker Chemical Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:KWR opened at $171.52 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.63. Quaker Chemical Co. has a 52-week low of $138.67 and a 52-week high of $221.94.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $463.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $493.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. Quaker Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quaker Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from Quaker Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 17th. Quaker Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

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.