12,762 Shares in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Bought by Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,918,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RiverFront Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $1,159,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 134.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 4,364 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Westlake in the second quarter valued at about $10,302,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Westlake by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE WLK traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $144.13. 381,039 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,517. 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 capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50-day moving average is $144.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.52. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $112.77 and a one year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake's payout ratio is 100.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $167.17.

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.