Continuum Advisory LLC Acquires 96 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 43.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $48,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $180,154,000 after acquiring an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,084,000 after buying an additional 183,666 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth $55,542,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 35.1% during the third 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 worth $47,835,000 after buying an additional 82,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WLK. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.17.

Westlake Stock Performance

Westlake stock opened at $120.16 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of 169.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.16. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $118.64 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.54.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 295.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.