Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Acquired by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Westlake by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Westlake by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Westlake by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE WLK opened at $125.87 on Thursday. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $118.64 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $135.72 and a 200-day moving average of $142.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 177.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.16.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.

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.