Citigroup Inc. lowered its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.5% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,320,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $385,138,000 after purchasing an additional 81,059 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 7.3% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,221,783 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $193,029,000 after acquiring an additional 150,636 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 17.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,187,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $137,714,000 after acquiring an additional 174,908 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Westlake by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 960,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $98,516,000 after acquiring an additional 138,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 4.5% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 830,404 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $81,396,000 after acquiring an additional 35,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake
In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total value of $131,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,329,388. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Westlake Trading Down 3.8 %
Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 9.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.
Westlake Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be issued a $0.357 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.51%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have issued reports on WLK shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.67.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Westlake
Westlake Profile
Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.
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