Moran Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,539 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 4,082 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC owned 0.05% of Westlake worth $7,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WLK. Amundi lifted its holdings in Westlake by 525.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 278,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $30,766,000 after acquiring an additional 233,838 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $13,411,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Westlake by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Westlake by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 5,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $9,430,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $140.07.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on WLK
Westlake Price Performance
Shares of Westlake stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $108.32. The stock had a trading volume of 376,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 496,361. 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 firm has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.04, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.39. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $104.74 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Westlake Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Westlake's payout ratio is 45.36%.
About Westlake
(
Free Report)
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.
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