Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Stake Raised by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 72.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $101,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at $252,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $122,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WLK. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.92.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $110.03 on Monday. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $108.95 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

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.