New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Westlake by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,037 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,284,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth $3,254,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Westlake by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 14,771 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,257,000 after buying an additional 2,382 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,123,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth $207,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.92.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $132.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a PE ratio of 186.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $118.64 and a 52-week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Westlake 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.