Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Has $14.57 Million Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lessened its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 189,009 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 64,361 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Westlake worth $14,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Westlake by 3.5% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 30,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,065,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 426.3% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 9,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $987,000 after acquiring an additional 7,989 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Westlake by 105.9% in the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 36,754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,677,000 after acquiring an additional 18,904 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Mizuho set a $90.00 target price on shares of Westlake and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $87.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (down previously from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down from $93.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Westlake Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:WLK opened at $73.79 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.95 and a beta of 0.94. Westlake Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $119.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.