Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Position Reduced by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN cut its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,086 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN's holdings in Westlake were worth $6,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,630,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 348.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 364,274 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,327,000 after purchasing an additional 283,100 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Westlake by 525.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 278,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,766,000 after purchasing an additional 233,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Westlake by 82.3% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 344,790 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $39,530,000 after buying an additional 155,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of WLK stock traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $92.42. 345,396 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 563,968. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $81.41 and a one year high of $161.31. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $101.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.25.

Westlake Company 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.