Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Westlake were worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its position in shares of Westlake by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Westlake by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Westlake by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Westlake from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $86.47 on Friday. Westlake Corp. has a one year low of $68.55 and a one year high of $153.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market cap of $11.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 70.47%.

Westlake Company 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.