Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Position Increased by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 799,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 204,101 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of Westlake worth $91,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $444,610,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th 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. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Westlake by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $107,092,000 after buying an additional 43,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Westlake by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $94,875,000 after purchasing an additional 299,597 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $80.05 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.21. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $76.97 and a 1 year high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.75, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Westlake from $122.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.92.

Westlake Company 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.

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