Fmr LLC Reduces Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Fmr LLC cut its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,730,006 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,382,920 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $410,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Westlake by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,239,420. This represents a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $128.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.99, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.19. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $118.64 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $137.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.83.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.

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.