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

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 149,574 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,587 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.12% of Westlake worth $17,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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. The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a PE ratio of 126.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $81.41 and a 52-week high of $161.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.94.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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