Empowered Funds LLC Invests $843,000 in Westwood Holdings Group Inc $WHG

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group Inc (NYSE:WHG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 44,008 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $843,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WHG. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group during the 2nd quarter worth $63,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Westwood Holdings Group during the second quarter worth $98,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 1,277.9% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,537 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group in the second quarter worth $148,000. 56.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westwood Holdings Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WHG opened at $18.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.94 million, a PE ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 0.56. Westwood Holdings Group Inc has a 12 month low of $14.70 and a 12 month high of $20.97.

Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The asset manager reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $25.34 million for the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 7.73%.

Westwood Holdings Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Westwood Holdings Group’s payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan Byrne sold 4,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.88, for a total value of $89,082.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 230,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,581,226.72. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 44,276 shares of company stock valued at $829,942 over the last ninety days. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WHG shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westwood Holdings Group to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Westwood Holdings Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Westwood Holdings Group has an average rating of “Buy”.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc is an independent, publicly traded asset management firm founded in 1983 and headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company offers a range of investment advisory services tailored to institutional, retail, and high-net-worth clients. Westwood’s disciplined, value-oriented approach guides its research process across equity and fixed-income markets, with an emphasis on fundamental analysis and long-term risk management.

The firm’s product lineup includes U.S.