D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 305.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 252,747 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 190,389 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.20% of Westlake worth $28,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in 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 boosted its stake in Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.
Westlake Trading Up 0.8%
Shares of WLK stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $86.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,037,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,500. The company's fifty day moving average is $94.30 and its 200 day moving average is $110.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $76.97 and a fifty-two week high of $161.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 121.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Westlake's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Westlake Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WLK has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.08.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WLK
About Westlake
(
Free Report)
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.
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