Custom Index Systems LLC Grows Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Custom Index Systems LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 230.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,105 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 4,956 shares during the quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 30.2% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.3% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,147,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services increased its position in Westlake by 203.4% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 4,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Westlake by 2.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.92.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK traded down $2.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $132.73. 419,609 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 433,744. The company has a market cap of $17.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.70, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $113.38 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.38.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 105.53%.

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.