Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,574 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,587 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.12% of Westlake worth $17,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,832,000 after buying an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Westlake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,242,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,098,000 after buying an additional 11,992 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Westlake by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WLK. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.23.

Westlake Stock Performance

Westlake stock traded up $2.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $92.73. The stock had a trading volume of 171,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,804. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of 130.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $81.41 and a 12 month high of $161.31. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $103.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

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.