Centiva Capital LP Purchases 3,209 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Centiva Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 57.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter valued at approximately $316,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $513,000. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 11.0% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

Westlake stock opened at $125.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $118.64 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 177.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $135.72 and its 200 day moving average is $142.93.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 295.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WLK shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.