Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys New Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,343,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $444,610,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,832,000 after buying an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $46,630,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.38.

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Westlake Trading Up 0.4 %

WLK traded up $0.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $90.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 514,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,562. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $81.41 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The stock has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 126.92, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $104.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.72. 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 (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

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.