Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 115 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Westlake by 699.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 90.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,084,000 after purchasing an additional 183,666 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $55,542,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $110.52 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $117.79 and a 200-day moving average of $132.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $108.56 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.79.

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.