New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.07.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $112.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 158.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $104.74 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.19. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.36%.

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.