Wahed Invest LLC Cuts Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Wahed Invest LLC cut its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 666 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 146 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $76,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.25.

Westlake Trading Down 13.2 %

WLK opened at $80.12 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $78.51 and a 12-month high of $161.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $98.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 112.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

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.