Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,653 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,871 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $6,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $513,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 18.9% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 9,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after buying an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 9.3% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,166 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter valued at approximately $544,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its stake in Westlake by 47.4% in the second quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 7,179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $117.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.89, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $117.11 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

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.