Concentric Capital Strategies LP Invests $675,000 in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Concentric Capital Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,889 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th 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 period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.92.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5 %

WLK traded down $0.39 on Friday, hitting $80.05. The company had a trading volume of 867,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,899. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $76.97 and a 52-week high of $161.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

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.