Moran Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,539 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,082 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $7,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,542,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 525.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 278,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,766,000 after acquiring an additional 233,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,718,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.1 %

Westlake stock opened at $110.63 on Tuesday. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $104.74 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.81, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WLK. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.07.

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.