HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK – Free Report) by 47.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 47,847 shares during the quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WLK. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Westlake by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $119.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.36.
Westlake Stock Performance
Shares of WLK opened at $88.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.15.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.31) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Westlake Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently -16.69%.
Westlake Company Profile
Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.
Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.
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