LMR Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,498 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 66.7% during 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 period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.17.

Westlake Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $127.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $118.64 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.86. The firm has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.18, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.19.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

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.