Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Short Interest Update

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,010,000 shares, a growth of 30.5% from the February 28th total of 1,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 687,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 6.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WLK. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.21.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE:WLK traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $101.96. The stock had a trading volume of 501,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,657. Westlake has a one year low of $97.36 and a one year high of $162.64. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $109.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake 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 issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

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.