Bank of Montreal Can Increases Stock Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 9.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 231,022 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,798 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Westlake were worth $17,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,508,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth $228,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth $2,469,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 989.6% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the period. Finally, Journey Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $3,405,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $64.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of -122.40 and a beta of 0.95. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $134.50.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WLK. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (down previously from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group set a $93.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.07.

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.