Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Westlake worth $12,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Westlake by 66.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $126.66 on Monday. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $118.64 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 178.39, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $139.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.17.

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.