Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 12,587 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 149,574 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,587 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Westlake were worth $17,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.15.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $89.70 on Friday. 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 $81.41 and a fifty-two week high of $161.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.33, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

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.