Point72 Asset Management L.P. Has $23.40 Million Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 118.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,703 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,563 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.12% of Westlake worth $23,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 3.8% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Westlake by 4.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,239,420. This represents a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Westlake Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $123.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.16. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $118.64 and a 12-month high of $162.64. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.17.

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.