Two Sigma Investments LP Has $11.96 Million Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Two Sigma Investments LP lessened its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 37,289 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned about 0.08% of Westlake worth $11,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $63,832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $11,242,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,098,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Westlake by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 193,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $22,137,000 after purchasing an additional 106,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $2.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $70.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 955,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 643,274. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $88.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.61. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $70.28 and a one year high of $161.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

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 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 for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $118.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.54.

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.