XTX Topco Ltd Has $1.43 Million Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 404.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,888 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,929 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WLK shares. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.00.

Westlake Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $144.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $112.77 and a one year high of $162.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.43. The company has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a PE ratio of 72.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend 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 yield of 1.46%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.53%.

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.