Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) in a research report released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Westwood Holdings Group Price Performance

NYSE WHG opened at $14.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.70. Westwood Holdings Group has a 52-week low of $8.91 and a 52-week high of $15.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 1.15.

Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The asset manager reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $22.69 million during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 7.63%.

Westwood Holdings Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Westwood Holdings Group’s dividend payout ratio is 44.12%.

Institutional Trading of Westwood Holdings Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WHG. SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Westwood Holdings Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 7.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC bought a new position in Westwood Holdings Group during the first quarter worth $537,000. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 352.5% during the fourth quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 60,395 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 47,047 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Westwood Holdings Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 99,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. 56.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manages investment assets and provides services for its clients. The company operates in two segments, Advisory and Trust. The Advisory segment provides investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, individuals, and the Westwood Funds; and investment sub-advisory services to mutual funds, pooled investment vehicles, and its Trust segment.