First Eagle Investment Management LLC Acquires 750 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at $43,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 66.7% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at $122,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.00.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $144.28 on Friday. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $112.77 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The firm has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a PE ratio of 72.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $143.50 and a 200-day moving average of $148.49.

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

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.46%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.53%.

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.