Voloridge Investment Management LLC Has $25.11 Million Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 3,182.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 212,357 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Westlake worth $25,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its stake in Westlake by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Westlake by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted 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 buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.54.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.20. The company had a trading volume of 150,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,343. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.63, 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 company's 50-day moving average is $88.82 and its 200-day moving average is $106.85.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.85 billion during 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 business's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.47%.

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.