GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 10,113.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,893 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Westlake were worth $5,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,630,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $94,875,000 after purchasing an additional 299,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 348.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 364,274 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,327,000 after purchasing an additional 283,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. One equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.85.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,329,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,278. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $68.55 and a 52 week high of $153.34. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.80, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $82.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.90.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Westlake's payout ratio is 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.