Lmcg Investments LLC Grows Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Lmcg Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,321 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $4,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Westlake by 66.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $122,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $141.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.95, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $112.77 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $143.49 and a 200 day moving average of $148.40.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

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.