2,680 Shares in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Acquired by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $101,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,524,000 after acquiring an additional 5,706 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 20,913 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,559,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 5,919 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WLK. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $144.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $154.85.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $117.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 355,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 495,898. 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 fifty-two week low of $108.95 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 166.01, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $120.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.61.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake's payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,239,420. This trade represents a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.