Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Acquired by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 137.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Westlake were worth $1,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew 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 valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Westlake by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Westlake Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of WLK stock traded down $7.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $94.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,118,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 546,571. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $109.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.07. The company has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. 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 $93.68 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WLK. UBS Group raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $138.21.

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.