State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Cuts Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,838 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,157 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WLK. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Westlake by 56.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 304,429 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,953,000 after buying an additional 109,433 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 2.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $577,344,000 after buying an additional 96,152 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $159,917,000 after buying an additional 66,614 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 10.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 682,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,129,000 after purchasing an additional 63,823 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,492,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total transaction of $667,764.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total transaction of $667,764.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225 over the last three months. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Vertical Research lowered Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.79.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK opened at $149.55 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $103.28 and a 12-month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. Research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

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.