Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC reduced its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 47.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,438,603 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,291,403 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $164,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Westlake during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,630,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 348.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 364,274 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,327,000 after acquiring an additional 283,100 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Westlake by 525.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 278,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,766,000 after purchasing an additional 233,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 82.3% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 344,790 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,530,000 after acquiring an additional 155,618 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WLK. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.15.

Westlake Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $89.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a PE ratio of 126.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $81.41 and a 52 week high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $104.69 and its 200-day moving average is $118.94.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

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.