Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.34 Million Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $107,092,000 after buying an additional 43,544 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Westlake by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $94,875,000 after acquiring an additional 299,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Down 1.4 %

WLK opened at $93.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.09. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $81.41 and a twelve month high of $161.31.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WLK. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.25.

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.