Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys New Shares in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 246.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,456,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,851 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $104,314,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,150,000 after purchasing an additional 102,268 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 366.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 901,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $90,150,000 after purchasing an additional 708,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at approximately $62,508,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $87.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Truist Financial set a $90.00 target price on Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.60.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK stock opened at $73.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $119.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.91 and a 200 day moving average of $77.09. The company has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.95 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). Westlake had a negative net margin of 8.34% and a negative return on equity of 0.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently -28.57%.

Westlake Company 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.