Deutsche Bank AG Grows Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,887 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG's holdings in Westlake were worth $4,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WLK. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $307,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $11,480,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position 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 worth $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 18.0% during the 4th 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. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during 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 last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 979,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $70.28 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The business's fifty day moving average price is $89.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.27.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. 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 research note on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.54.

About Westlake

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.