State Street Corp Buys 9,838 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 9,838 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 0.93% of Westlake worth $180,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC raised its position 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 worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Westlake in the third quarter worth $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Westlake during the second quarter valued at $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Westlake during the third quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at $84,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.17.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

Westlake stock opened at $120.16 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.54. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $118.64 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 169.24, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.16.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 295.77%.

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.