Axa S.A. Acquires Shares of 3,609 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Axa S.A. bought a new position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,609 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Westlake by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,334,579 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $203,924,000 after purchasing an additional 22,743 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Westlake by 17.4% during the second quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 223,366 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,348,000 after buying an additional 33,100 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter valued at $27,179,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Westlake in the first quarter valued at $25,154,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 3,330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 150,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $23,802,000 after acquiring an additional 145,673 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.50.

Westlake Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WLK opened at $148.98 on Wednesday. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $112.77 and a 52-week high of $162.64. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.79. The company has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a PE ratio of 74.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18.

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 firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s payout ratio is 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.