Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Has $152,000 Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda cut its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 44.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 879 shares during the quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in Westlake were worth $152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WLK. Pathstone Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the third quarter worth $208,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Westlake by 14.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 29,838 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,720,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Westlake by 14.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,883 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Westlake by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $577,344,000 after buying an additional 96,152 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.00.

Westlake Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE WLK opened at $151.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.73. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $107.34 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $19.42 billion, a PE ratio of 75.90, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.26.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. Westlake had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total value of $753,340.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.