Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Westlake were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 247.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 163.9% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $71.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 100.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.47. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $70.28 and a 12 month high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WLK. Bank of America raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.54.

Westlake 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.