Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 43,544 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,544 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.73% of Westlake worth $107,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in Westlake by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,613 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,104,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 84.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 72.0% in the 4th 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. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 13,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter worth $307,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $93.38 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.89. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $81.41 and a 12 month high of $161.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a PE ratio of 131.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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 quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.25.

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.

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