Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 94.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,956 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Westlake by 100.6% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 11,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 5,628 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Westlake by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 66,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Westlake by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,616,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $150.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $145.33 and a 200 day moving average of $148.37. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $112.77 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.35 billion, a PE ratio of 75.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 105.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.83.

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.