Korea Investment CORP Boosts Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 137.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Walnut Level Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Walnut Level Capital LLC now owns 72,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,287,000 after purchasing an additional 27,285 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,610,000 after buying an additional 21,293 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,928 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $1,364,000. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Westlake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 42,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE WLK opened at $100.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $97.37 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $12.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

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.