Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,469,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Westlake by 251.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Westlake by 127.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Westlake by 3,005.6% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 107.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 54.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Westlake from $100.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Truist Financial set a $90.00 price target on Westlake and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.64.

Westlake Trading Down 6.9%

Westlake stock opened at $68.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.77 and a 12 month high of $139.59. The stock has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.08 and a beta of 0.93.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.