Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 88.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,813 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Westlake were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 4,364 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th 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. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Westlake by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,377,000 after acquiring an additional 6,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Westlake by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 79,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,078,000 after acquiring an additional 5,512 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial began coverage on Westlake in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Westlake Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $3.70 on Monday, hitting $110.57. 375,334 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 540,844. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $108.56 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 156.44, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $118.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.66. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. Equities research 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 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 1.90%. Westlake's payout ratio is 295.77%.

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.