Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,026 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $101,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $148.98 on Wednesday. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $112.77 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.86, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $143.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.50.

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.