The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $2.71 Million in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Posted by Geri Gentry on Sep 3rd, 2026

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Westlake during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Westlake by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.92.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on WLK

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $76.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of -7.96 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.11) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a $0.533 dividend. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -22.23%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Westlake

(Free Report)

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.