Walnut Level Capital LLC Has $8.29 Million Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Walnut Level Capital LLC raised its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 60.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,285 shares during the period. Westlake makes up about 3.1% of Walnut Level Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Walnut Level Capital LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Westlake worth $8,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 25,928 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,973,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,364,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 42,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,387,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $100.73 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $99.18 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.16. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.07.

Westlake 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.