Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by TD Asset Management Inc

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,328 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Westlake were worth $482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 112,388 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,276,000 after buying an additional 17,916 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP raised its position in Westlake by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 7,179 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $544,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Westlake by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,166 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 9,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $138.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.81, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $112.77 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WLK shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.00.

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.