Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 65.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 66,724 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $4,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,524,000 after purchasing an additional 5,706 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 20,913 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,559,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,919 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,624,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WLK opened at $117.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.42. 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 market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 166.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $108.95 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

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.