Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,803 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC raised its position in Westlake by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 13,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,203,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,208,000 after acquiring an additional 182,600 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $90.33 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.91. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $81.41 and a twelve month high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.23.

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.