Kestra Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,763 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Westlake by 17.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $544,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,179,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 89.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after buying an additional 20,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Westlake by 134.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 4,364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $128.40 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $118.64 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $136.87 and a 200-day moving average of $143.54. The stock has a market cap of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.16.

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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 295.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,239,420. This trade represents a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.