Custom Index Systems LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Custom Index Systems LLC grew its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 230.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,105 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 4,956 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WLK shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.92.

Westlake Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of WLK traded down $2.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $132.73. 419,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 433,744. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $142.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.38. The company has a market capitalization of $17.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.70, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $113.38 and a 52 week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.53%.

Westlake 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.