Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,811 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,687 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $9,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $577,344,000 after acquiring an additional 96,152 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $159,917,000 after purchasing an additional 66,614 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 10.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 682,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,129,000 after purchasing an additional 63,823 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 321,888 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,401 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Westlake by 6.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 310,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,724,000 after acquiring an additional 17,838 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Vertical Research cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.79.

Westlake Price Performance

Westlake stock opened at $149.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.37. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $103.28 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $146.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.65. The company has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.34, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.30.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.09). Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.