Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $2.15 Million Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 88.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,813 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 27,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter worth $361,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.1 %

WLK stock opened at $115.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $108.95 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $118.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 163.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.79.

About Westlake

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.