Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Short Interest Up 31.9% in May

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, an increase of 31.9% from the April 30th total of 2,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 997,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 11.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,974,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 366.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 901,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $90,150,000 after buying an additional 708,142 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,630,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded down $0.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,055,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 675,179. Westlake has a 52 week low of $68.55 and a 52 week high of $156.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm's fifty day moving average is $84.63 and its 200 day moving average is $104.41. The stock has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.23, a P/E/G 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) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Wall Street Zen cut Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 target price on Westlake and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.85.

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.