Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 20.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,744 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $544,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,179,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 89.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 20,913 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.67.

Westlake Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $127.75 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.78. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $118.64 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 179.93, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.19.

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 firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.