Continuum Advisory LLC Has $48,000 Stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the third quarter worth about $84,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.17.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 74.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $120.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $132.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.54. The company has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of 169.24, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.16. Westlake Co. has a 52 week low of $118.64 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.

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.