Short Interest in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Rises By 30.5%

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,010,000 shares, an increase of 30.5% from the February 28th total of 1,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 687,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 6.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Westlake by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 11.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 15.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,377,000 after buying an additional 6,476 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.0% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 17,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 318,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,835,000 after acquiring an additional 82,617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE WLK traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $100.14. 677,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 543,658. Westlake has a 12 month low of $97.34 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 141.04, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.21.

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.