Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases 8,813 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 88.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 8,813 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at about $353,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 131,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $19,061,000 after acquiring an additional 35,331 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in Westlake by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Westlake by 134.4% in 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, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,918,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of WLK opened at $115.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 163.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $108.95 and a 1 year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.79.

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.