StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) in a research note released on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Westwood Holdings Group Price Performance

Shares of Westwood Holdings Group stock opened at $14.23 on Friday. Westwood Holdings Group has a 1-year low of $8.91 and a 1-year high of $15.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.52 million, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.15.

Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The asset manager reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group had a net margin of 7.63% and a return on equity of 7.86%. The business had revenue of $22.69 million for the quarter.

Westwood Holdings Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Westwood Holdings Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.12%.

Institutional Trading of Westwood Holdings Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Westwood Holdings Group by 85.4% during the second quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 116,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 53,870 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC bought a new stake in Westwood Holdings Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $537,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Westwood Holdings Group by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 242,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after buying an additional 34,697 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in Westwood Holdings Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 459,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,595,000 after acquiring an additional 13,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westwood Holdings Group during the first quarter worth approximately $144,000. Institutional investors own 56.64% of the company’s stock.

Westwood Holdings Group Company Profile

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manages investment assets and provides services for its clients. The company operates in two segments, Advisory and Trust. The Advisory segment provides investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, individuals, and the Westwood Funds; and investment sub-advisory services to mutual funds, pooled investment vehicles, and its Trust segment.