Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 367 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $45,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Westlake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,098,000 after buying an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after buying an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK opened at $99.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.57, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.94. Westlake Co. has a 12-month low of $98.51 and a 12-month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.21.

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.