Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 12,833 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $6,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $11,480,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 79,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,078,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at about $307,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 13,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,522,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 72.0% during 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. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Westlake in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.79.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $116.98 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $119.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.36. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $108.95 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

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.