Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,260 shares during the period. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC's holdings in Westlake were worth $2,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Westlake during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth about $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Westlake Stock Performance
Shares of Westlake stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $132.14. 456,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 390,166. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $118.25 and a one year high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.63.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Westlake Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.96%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
WLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $165.92.
View Our Latest Analysis on WLK
Westlake Company Profile
(
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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