Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 299,597 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.64% of Westlake worth $94,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position 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 period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 84.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $91.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 129.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.62 and a 200-day moving average of $116.70. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $81.41 and a one year high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake's payout ratio is 45.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.25.

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.

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