Cerity Partners LLC Buys Shares of 60,676 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 60,676 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,492,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Westlake by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,528 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 5,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter worth $87,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Westlake from $139.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Vertical Research lowered Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,923,225 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $153.46 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $145.65 and a 200 day moving average of $135.54. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $103.28 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Westlake Company 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.