Bank of Montreal Can Takes $444,000 Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,705 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WLK. FMR LLC grew its position in Westlake by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,224,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $489,974,000 after acquiring an additional 629,978 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,405,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $406,864,000 after acquiring an additional 84,846 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,221,783 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $193,029,000 after acquiring an additional 150,636 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in Westlake by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,061,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $239,139,000 after acquiring an additional 105,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,187,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $137,714,000 after acquiring an additional 174,908 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 4,215 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.50, for a total value of $550,057.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,186,397. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 4,215 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.50, for a total value of $550,057.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,186,397. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,000 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total value of $131,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,329,388. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $130.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.21. Westlake Co. has a 12 month low of $98.05 and a 12 month high of $138.39. The company has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WLK shares. KeyCorp upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Westlake from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.29.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.