Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 21,294 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,254,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in Westlake by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $183,605,000 after buying an additional 675,725 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $159,917,000 after acquiring an additional 66,614 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $50,961,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 352,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after buying an additional 8,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 120,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,437,000 after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.15.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock traded up $1.23 on Monday, reaching $147.88. 255,073 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 427,398. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $112.77 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $152.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 73.69, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 100.50%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,141,779.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.