Xponance Inc. Buys 1,507 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 28.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Westlake by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Westlake by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.07.

Westlake Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $102.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.74, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $99.18 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

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.