Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $361,000 in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,346 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Westlake by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Westlake by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $116.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $119.03 and its 200-day moving average is $133.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 164.75, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $108.95 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 295.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WLK. UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.79.

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.