Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New $642,000 Investment in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,596 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 13,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in Westlake during the fourth quarter worth $2,203,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 350,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $40,208,000 after purchasing an additional 182,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WLK. Bank of America raised Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.25.

Westlake Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded up $2.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.36. The company had a trading volume of 70,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 723,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $81.40 and a one year high of $161.31. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $102.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.50, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.