Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 4,528 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,387,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,528 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $474,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Westlake by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $183,605,000 after acquiring an additional 675,725 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter worth $50,961,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 56.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 304,429 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,953,000 after acquiring an additional 109,433 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Westlake by 460.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,898,000 after acquiring an additional 69,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $159,917,000 after acquiring an additional 66,614 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $146.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.57, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.26. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $111.10 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $153.51 and a 200 day moving average of $146.40.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. Barclays boosted their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.