Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Purchased by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 348.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 364,274 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 283,100 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.28% of Westlake worth $41,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 31,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,577,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 22,096 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,533,000 after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,630,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Westlake by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,292,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $100.02 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 140.87, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $97.37 and a one year high of $162.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.82 and a 200 day moving average of $122.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

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.