Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 96.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,205 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Westlake were worth $677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Westlake by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WLK shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.92.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $137.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.77 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $143.56 and a 200-day moving average of $147.83. The stock has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. Westlake’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 100.96%.

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.