Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 6,900 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 49.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,900 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Westlake were worth $811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Westlake by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Westlake Trading Up 1.2 %

WLK stock traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.03. The stock had a trading volume of 717,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,104. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $104.74 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $14.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.79, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WLK. Barclays cut their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.07.

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.