State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $836,000 Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury reduced its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,295 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Westlake were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Westlake by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 13.2 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $80.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.85, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $78.51 and a one year high of $161.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 45.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WLK shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.25.

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.