Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Acquired by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 31.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Westlake were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Westlake by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Westlake by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

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

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $117.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.16 billion, a PE ratio of 165.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $131.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $117.11 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 295.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.