Graham Capital Management L.P. Boosts Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Westlake by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 38,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,424,000 after buying an additional 4,887 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 305.3% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 252,747 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,977,000 after purchasing an additional 190,389 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,026,000. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,745,000. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.92.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:WLK opened at $80.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 112.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $76.97 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.05.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

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.