Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 22,272 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 33.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,272 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned about 0.07% of Westlake worth $10,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its holdings in Westlake by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth $509,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $112,711,000 after buying an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 273,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $31,372,000 after acquiring an additional 4,470 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 193,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $22,137,000 after acquiring an additional 106,329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE WLK traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.60. The stock had a trading volume of 649,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,829. The company's 50 day moving average price is $92.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.97. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $76.97 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). 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 analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Westlake's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WLK. UBS Group reduced their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $103.00 to $94.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.