Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 455 Shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,222 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 139.5% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 922 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 45.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after buying an additional 8,258 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 76,996 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,702,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $565,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Westlake by 251.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WLK. Bank of America decreased their price target on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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, Barclays reduced their price objective on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.77.

Westlake Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of WLK opened at $81.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Westlake Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.55 and a 12-month high of $153.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.53.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

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.