LPL Financial LLC Grows Position in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,421 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 4,493 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 17.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,711,000 after purchasing an additional 58,093 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $107,092,000 after acquiring an additional 43,544 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 882,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $101,175,000 after acquiring an additional 47,732 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $84.05 on Friday. Westlake Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.55 and a 1 year high of $153.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of -158.58, a PEG ratio of 369.22 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.05.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The business’s revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -396.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WLK. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.29.

About Westlake

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.