Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 83,179 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,439,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 83,179 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $265,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 19.0% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 422,640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,569,000 after buying an additional 67,486 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth $285,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,446 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,050 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Westlake by 180.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its position in Westlake by 7,878.3% in the third quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WLK. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $83.00 price target (down from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Westlake Trading Up 5.2%

NYSE:WLK opened at $105.59 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $114.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.02 and its 200-day moving average is $79.82. The firm has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 45.50 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently -18.12%.

About Westlake

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.