Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Invests $1.83 Million in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,919 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Westlake by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK opened at $93.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.53. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $81.41 and a 1 year high of $161.31. The stock has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.25.

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.