Millennium Management LLC Acquires 35,331 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 36.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 131,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 35,331 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Westlake worth $19,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $167.50.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $147.80. 490,767 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 438,036. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $112.77 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $143.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.27, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.53%.

Westlake Company 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.