RiverFront Investment Group LLC Sells 1,028 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,972 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,028 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $444,610,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Westlake by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $180,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 699.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,445,000 after purchasing an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after buying an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $99.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $98.51 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $110.56 and its 200 day moving average is $123.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

About Westlake

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.