Man Group plc Sells 48,206 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Man Group plc cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 55.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,799 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 48,206 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Westlake were worth $4,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth about $11,480,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 27.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 18.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 247.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Westlake during the fourth quarter worth about $361,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Down 3.3%

WLK opened at $73.72 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.83, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $73.63 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.51.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $103.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.54.

Westlake 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.