Fractal Investments LLC Cuts Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Fractal Investments LLC trimmed its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the quarter. Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after buying an additional 4,129 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 66,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,322,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 64,811 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,071,000 after buying an additional 10,687 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,389,052.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $149.86. 381,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,488. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $103.28 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.30. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $146.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.83.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released 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 net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.79.

About Westlake

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.