Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Acquired by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. AXA S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $523,000. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in Westlake by 189.6% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter worth approximately $353,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 36.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 131,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $19,061,000 after purchasing an additional 35,331 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Westlake by 4.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $116.98 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $119.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $108.95 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 164.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

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.