MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $2.22 Million Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)
MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating) by 3,093.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 20,973 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
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Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WLK. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth $437,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in Westlake by 282.3% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 37,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,288,000 after acquiring an additional 27,947 shares in the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 23.3% during the third quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 67,249 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,768,000 after acquiring an additional 12,714 shares in the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Westlake during the third quarter worth $867,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Westlake by 113.4% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,693 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,872 shares in the last quarter. 26.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Westlake Stock Up 1.5 %
Shares of WLK traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $108.69. 427,367 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 555,367. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.61. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $81.29 and a 52 week high of $141.19. The company has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.24.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by ($0.45). Westlake had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.
Westlake Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.357 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.26%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently issued reports on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $109.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Westlake from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, February 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.64.
About Westlake
Westlake Corp. Is a global diversified industrial company, which engages in the manufacturing and supplying of essential products. It operates through the Performance and Essential Materials, and Housing and Infrastructure Products segments. The Performance and Essential Materials segment includes Westlake North American Vinyls, Westlake North American Chlor-alkali and Derivatives, Westlake European and Asian Chlorovinyls, Westlake Olefins, Westlake Polyethylene, and Westlake Epoxy.
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