Voloridge Investment Management LLC Purchases 212,357 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 3,182.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 212,357 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Westlake worth $25,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.64. The stock had a trading volume of 979,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,146. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 100.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.47. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $70.28 and a one year high of $161.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WLK shares. Wall Street Zen cut Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.