American Century Companies Inc. Has $4.89 Million Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,660 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,678 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Westlake were worth $4,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Westlake by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Westlake by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 812 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.15.

Westlake Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of WLK traded down $6.85 on Thursday, hitting $86.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 909,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,843. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $105.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.32. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $81.41 and a fifty-two week high of $161.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

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.