Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Acquires 1,388 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 1,360.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Westlake were worth $209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 19.3% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Westlake by 21.9% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 16,217 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,022,000 after buying an additional 2,918 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Westlake by 512.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Westlake by 18.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 37,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,684,000 after buying an additional 5,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Westlake by 8.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Vertical Research cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.79.

Westlake Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $149.18 on Thursday. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $103.28 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.09). Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225. 74.10% of the stock is 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.