Board of the Pension Protection Fund Takes $732,000 Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,136,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in Westlake by 4.1% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 5,020 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 54.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $87.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday. Truist Financial set a $90.00 target price on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on Westlake and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Westlake Stock Down 3.1%

WLK opened at $72.48 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $119.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.10. The company has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 0.94.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 0.78% and a negative net margin of 8.34%.The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -28.57%.

Westlake Profile

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.