Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP trimmed its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 85.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,807 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 10,457 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP's holdings in Westlake were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,297 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Westlake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,242,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,098,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.54.
View Our Latest Research Report on Westlake
Westlake Price Performance
NYSE:WLK traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.64. 979,929 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 637,525. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $70.28 and a one year high of $161.31. The company has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.
Westlake Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. Westlake's payout ratio is 70.47%.
About Westlake
(
Free Report)
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.
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