Qsemble Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 3,482 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $183,605,000 after acquiring an additional 675,725 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth about $50,961,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at about $25,154,000. Natixis grew its position in Westlake by 41,979.2% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 85,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,988,000 after buying an additional 84,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Westlake by 460.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,898,000 after acquiring an additional 69,838 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $139.01 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.22. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $112.77 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $17.88 billion, a PE ratio of 69.85, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WLK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.00.

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.