8,801 Shares in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Bought by Polymer Capital Management US LLC

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,009,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Westlake from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered 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. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.50.

Westlake Stock Down 6.0 %

Shares of WLK opened at $88.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $84.31 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.40.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 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.