Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $361,000 in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,346 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WLK. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $523,000. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 189.6% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at about $353,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 131,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $19,061,000 after purchasing an additional 35,331 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Westlake by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup upgraded 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 note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.79.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK stock traded down $1.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $114.43. 1,276,041 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 456,146. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $108.95 and a 52-week high of $162.64. 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 company has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 161.17, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $118.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.

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.