Sprott Inc. Buys 5,000 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Sprott Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Westlake worth $10,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Westlake by 90.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after buying an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Westlake by 989.6% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Westlake Stock Up 1.3%

WLK opened at $106.78 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.67 and a 200 day moving average of $79.93. The company has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of -9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 42.79 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $114.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WLK. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $92.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.80.

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.