Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 23,558 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.43% of Westlake worth $82,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Westlake during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth $66,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of WLK opened at $113.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $113.27 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.41 and its 200-day moving average is $140.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 159.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.83.

Westlake Company 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.