Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK – Free Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 50,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,652,000.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in Westlake by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,386,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $324,348,000 after acquiring an additional 472,224 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 7,239.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $312,080,000 after buying an additional 4,163,207 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $289,647,000 after acquiring an additional 477,698 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth about $240,474,000. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,548,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
View Our Latest Research Report on Westlake
Westlake Trading Up 0.2%
NYSE:WLK opened at $74.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.80 and a beta of 0.63. Westlake Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $124.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.93 and a 200 day moving average of $92.11.
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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.11) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Westlake Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.533 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.23%.
About Westlake
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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