Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Quaker Chemical Co. (NYSE:KWR) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,983 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Quaker Chemical were worth $1,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KWR. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Quaker Chemical in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Quaker Chemical by 345.9% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Quaker Chemical in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Quaker Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in Quaker Chemical by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.46% of the company’s stock.

Quaker Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KWR traded up $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $175.28. 82,938 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,700. 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 1.98, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.64.

Quaker Chemical (NYSE:KWR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Quaker Chemical had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 6.16%. The firm had revenue of $469.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $494.53 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Quaker Chemical Co. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Quaker Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 17th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 17th. Quaker Chemical’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KWR shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Quaker Chemical in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Quaker Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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.