Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Acquired by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 15,460 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.07% of Westlake worth $9,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 33.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:WLK traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $78.68. 1,749,049 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,784. The firm has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.82, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.61. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $68.55 and a 52-week high of $156.64. 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 (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WLK. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $89.85.

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.