Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,201 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,628 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,377,000 after purchasing an additional 6,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,430,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.07.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $112.03 on Friday. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $104.74 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

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.