Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 290 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.92.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $80.05 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.38. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $76.97 and a 12-month high of $161.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

Westlake Company Profile

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.