First Trust Advisors LP Has $94.88 Million Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 299,597 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.64% of Westlake worth $94,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Westlake by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Westlake by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.38. The company had a trading volume of 598,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 566,903. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.29. The firm has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $81.41 and a 1-year high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Research 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 $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.25.

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.