Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,916 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 2,916 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Westlake worth $11,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted 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 worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Westlake by 4.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Westlake by 0.5% in 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. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Westlake by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WLK shares. StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.69.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,569,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,051. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $92.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.66. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 115.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $76.97 and a 1-year high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during 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 company's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. 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.