ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 205,845 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 45.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 249,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 205,845 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Westlake worth $28,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 163.9% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $103.00 to $94.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $76.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.54.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock traded down $3.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.31. 1,858,652 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 628,502. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $76.08 and a 52 week high of $161.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 107.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.97.

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 the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.