Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Bought by Lmcg Investments LLC

Lmcg Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $4,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 1.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 3.8% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Westlake by 3.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE:WLK traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.14. 456,335 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 390,166. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $118.25 and a one year high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 100.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.92.

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.