Swiss National Bank Sells 4,800 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.08% of Westlake worth $12,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Westlake by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after acquiring an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $55,542,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $101.82 on Thursday. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $100.10 and a one year high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a PE ratio of 143.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.84.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.07.

About Westlake

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.