Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Acquires 1,123 Shares of Westlake Corp. $WLK

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,885 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Westlake by 251.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 127.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 71.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 33.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 3,005.6% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Tudor Pickering raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.29.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $90.4550 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a PE ratio of -170.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 398.33 and a beta of 0.92. Westlake Corp. has a one year low of $68.55 and a one year high of $153.34.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The firm’s revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Westlake’s payout ratio is -400.00%.

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.