HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 315.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 46,058 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $6,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Westlake by 84.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.23.

Westlake Trading Up 1.7 %

Westlake stock opened at $91.86 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.51. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $81.41 and a 52-week high of $161.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

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.