Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Position Increased by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 58,093 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.76% of Westlake worth $112,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,297 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Westlake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,242,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $27,098,000 after buying an additional 11,992 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $6,822,000 after buying an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded down $3.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,858,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,233. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $92.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.48, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $76.08 and a one year high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.54.

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.