Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Stake Lowered by Prelude Capital Management LLC

Prelude Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 49.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,841 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,739 shares during the period. Prelude Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Gyon Technologies Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 150.0% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 470 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 39.9% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $127.27 on Monday. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $81.29 and a 1 year high of $138.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $130.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.75. The company has a market cap of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.52). Westlake had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 27.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th were paid a $0.357 dividend. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 24th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total value of $131,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,329,388. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Westlake from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Westlake from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $127.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.67.

Westlake Profile

Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.