Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 1,737.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,781 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 30,051 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK traded up $1.95 on Thursday, hitting $92.27. 107,788 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 562,561. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a PE ratio of 130.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $81.41 and a 1-year high of $161.31. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $103.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Westlake's payout ratio is 45.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.23.

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.