Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 8,334 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,273,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 64,811 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,071,000 after purchasing an additional 10,687 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $8,492,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Westlake by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 15,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Westlake by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on WLK. Citigroup raised their price objective on Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Westlake from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Vertical Research downgraded Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.4 %

Westlake stock opened at $146.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.37, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.26. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $112.77 and a 52 week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25. Westlake had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 7.69%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

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.