Point72 Asset Management L.P. Invests $10.30 Million in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 71,140 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,302,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.06% of Westlake as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Westlake in the second quarter valued at about $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Westlake by 66.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $101,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.50.

Westlake Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $150.29 on Tuesday. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $112.77 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $143.58 and a 200 day moving average of $148.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 1.40%. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 105.53%.

Westlake 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.