Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,660 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 3,834 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Westlake were worth $1,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $63,832,000 after buying an additional 5,297 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Westlake by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.92.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WLK stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 867,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,899. The company has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $76.97 and a 1-year high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $95.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.05.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

About Westlake

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.