Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 116,974 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 116,974 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $13,411,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Westlake at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Westlake by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 5,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $9,430,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,098,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLK has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.07.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.73. 2,590,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,703. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $112.03 and a 200 day moving average of $124.26. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $99.18 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a PE ratio of 141.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's dividend 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.