Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 81.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,159 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 72.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Westlake by 84.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.25.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $93.19 on Tuesday. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $81.41 and a 12 month high of $161.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 131.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

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

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.