UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 28,505 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 346,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,505 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.27% of Westlake worth $39,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.Oil Jumps, 2 Plastic Stocks About To Become Value PlaysA number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $444,610,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $112,711,000 after acquiring an additional 58,093 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Westlake by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $107,092,000 after acquiring an additional 43,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock. Westlake Trading Down 1.0%WLK stock opened at $71.64 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.27. Westlake Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.28 and a fifty-two week high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm 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. Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Westlake Announces DividendThe company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 payout ratio is 70.47%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast GrowthSeveral equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.54.Get Our Latest Report on WLKWestlake Profile (Free Report)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.Recommended StoriesFive stocks we like better than Westlake3 Ways To Invest In Coffee, Other Than Drinking ItThis Market Sell-Off Might Trigger a Value Rotation Into Pepsi How is Compound Interest Calculated?Alphabet Stock Lags—But Waymo May Be Its Hidden DriverWhat Do S&P 500 Stocks Tell Investors About the Market? Trade Desk Silences Critics; Recovery Looks Poised to ContinueThis instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.Should You Invest $1,000 in Westlake Right Now?Before you consider Westlake, you'll want to hear this.MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Westlake wasn't on the list.While Westlake currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.View The Five Stocks Here