Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys Shares of 6,773 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the first quarter worth about $1,273,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,254,000. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in Westlake by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter valued at approximately $544,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.00.

Westlake Trading Up 0.0 %

WLK opened at $150.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 75.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. 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 twelve month low of $112.77 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $143.48 and a 200-day moving average of $148.70.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 105.53%.

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.