Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by Dana Investment Advisors Inc.

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,026 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 134.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 4,364 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Westlake in the second quarter valued at $10,302,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at about $217,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in Westlake in the second quarter worth $3,185,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Down 0.9 %

WLK opened at $148.98 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.79. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $112.77 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The firm has a market cap of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.86, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.50.

Westlake 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.