Bank of Montreal Can Has $17.15 Million Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,574 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 12,587 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.12% of Westlake worth $17,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Westlake Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $0.11 on Tuesday, hitting $90.00. The stock had a trading volume of 568,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,582. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.84 and a 200 day moving average of $118.10. 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 twelve month low of $81.41 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.75, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WLK. Citigroup dropped their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.23.

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.