Point72 DIFC Ltd Acquires Shares of 10,630 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,630 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,961,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 48,169 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,742,000 after buying an additional 16,964 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 31,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,450,000 after buying an additional 14,228 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 102,250.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 2,045 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 1,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 1.9 %

WLK opened at $147.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.34, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $112.77 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $143.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.61.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WLK. Mizuho began coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group reduced 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. Citigroup upped their price target on Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.00.

About Westlake

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.