Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Westlake were worth $6,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WLK. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $180,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 699.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $58,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,542,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of WLK stock traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.43. 1,276,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 456,146. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $108.95 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 161.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50 day moving average is $118.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 295.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Westlake in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.