Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires 1,000 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 5th, 2023

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Free Report) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Westlake by 17.5% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,224,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $489,974,000 after buying an additional 629,978 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Westlake by 189.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 802,507 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $99,029,000 after buying an additional 524,828 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 959.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 554,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,866,000 after buying an additional 501,774 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 420.1% during the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 610,892 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,851,000 after purchasing an additional 493,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,719,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Westlake from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $127.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.43.

Read Our Latest Report on Westlake

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $123.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake Co. has a twelve month low of $85.37 and a twelve month high of $138.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.52). Westlake had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 25th were issued a $0.357 dividend. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total value of $131,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,148 shares in the company, valued at $1,329,388. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Westlake Company Profile

(Free Report)

Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.