Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $745,000 Stock Holdings in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 87.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 69,272 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth about $565,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 76,996 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,702,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Westlake by 139.5% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 922 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday. UBS Group set a $93.00 price target on Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Westlake from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Westlake from $93.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.64.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $69.10 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a 12-month low of $65.77 and a 12-month high of $139.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.07. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of -130.37 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Westlake’s payout ratio is -400.00%.

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.