CIBC Asset Management Inc Invests $544,000 in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,758 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at $1,273,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter worth approximately $3,254,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 15,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Westlake Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $135.01 on Friday. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.77 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $144.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a PE ratio of 67.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. Westlake’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.53%.

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.