Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Buys 2,779 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 81.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,195 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Westlake by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $183,605,000 after buying an additional 675,725 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $159,917,000 after buying an additional 66,614 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,961,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 352,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after buying an additional 8,292 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 120,664 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,041 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded down $2.11 on Friday, hitting $142.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 356,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,408. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.76. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $112.77 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 71.36, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.83.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company’s revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,141,779.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Vertical Research lowered Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.00.

Westlake Company 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.