RiverFront Investment Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,972 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,028 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Westlake by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,445,000 after buying an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $99.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.56 and its 200 day moving average is $123.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 139.57, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $98.51 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 45.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Westlake from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $135.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.21.

Westlake Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.