Cetera Investment Advisers Has $1.10 Million Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 134.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,364 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Westlake were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,273,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $3,254,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $544,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WLK. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.92.

Westlake Trading Up 0.2 %

WLK opened at $142.15 on Thursday. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $112.77 and a twelve month 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $144.14 and a 200-day moving average of $148.44. The stock has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 68.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 100.96%.

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.