5,419 Shares in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Purchased by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the third quarter worth about $84,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.17.

Westlake Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE WLK opened at $124.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 175.13, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $134.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.42. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $118.64 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at $1,239,420. This represents a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.