Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Invests $5.65 Million in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 40,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,653,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Westlake by 189.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 802,507 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $99,029,000 after buying an additional 524,828 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 959.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 554,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,866,000 after acquiring an additional 501,774 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Westlake by 420.1% in 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter worth about $31,719,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth about $30,261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.79.

Westlake Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $150.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.29. Westlake Co. has a 1 year low of $103.28 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.30.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.93 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,389,052.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,389,052.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225 in the last quarter. 74.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.