Northern Trust Corp Buys 34,481 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,663 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,481 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.24% of Westlake worth $35,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $63,832,000 after buying an additional 5,297 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Westlake by 4.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 5.3% during the fourth 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 holdings in Westlake by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.08.

Westlake Stock Up 7.0%

NYSE WLK traded up $5.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $85.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,219,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,392. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 120.59, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) 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 firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business 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 yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.47%.

Westlake Profile

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.