Korea Investment CORP Has $1.56 Million Stock Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 137.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Westlake by 6,316.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Westlake by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 531 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America cut their target price on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.21.

Westlake Stock Down 0.0 %

WLK opened at $100.02 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $109.82 and a 200 day moving average of $122.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $97.37 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 140.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

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.