SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 100,127 Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 100,127 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,480,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 699.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after purchasing an additional 520,669 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after buying an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Westlake by 3,330.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 150,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $23,802,000 after acquiring an additional 145,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,718,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $118.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 166.72, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.15. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $108.95 and a twelve month high of $162.64. 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 (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

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.