National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 16,249.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,976 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,811 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Westlake were worth $3,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% in 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. increased its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WLK. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.15.

Westlake Trading Up 3.1 %

WLK traded up $2.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 654,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,890. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $81.41 and a 52-week high of $161.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.33, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.