Duality Advisers LP Sells 1,857 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Duality Advisers LP lessened its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,857 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 79.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 100.6% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 11,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 5,628 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $5,653,000. Peterson Wealth Services acquired a new position in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,424 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WLK. Vertical Research lowered shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.79.

Westlake Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $149.86 on Thursday. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $103.28 and a one year high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.92 and a 200-day moving average of $136.83. The company has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.30.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.09). Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,389,052.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,923,225. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

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.