Farther Finance Advisors LLC Buys 1,822 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 1,840.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 3.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 244,497 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $24,457,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Westlake by 251.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Westlake by 71.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Westlake by 4.6% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 12,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 2.7% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 61,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Westlake from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $79.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -150.75 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Westlake Corporation has a 1-year low of $68.55 and a 1-year high of $149.34.

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

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -400.00%.

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.