Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 243 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 84.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Westlake were worth $61,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Westlake by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Westlake by 4.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $111.98 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.90. The company has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.72, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $110.76 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.83.

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.