Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Purchased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,512 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.06% of Westlake worth $9,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,179,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 89.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 20,913 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Westlake by 134.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 4,364 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,377,000 after purchasing an additional 6,476 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $117.87 on Friday. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $108.95 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 166.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $120.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.67. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

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.