Westlake Corporation $WLK Shares Bought by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 51.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 260,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,499 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Westlake were worth $20,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WLK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Westlake in the second quarter valued at about $104,314,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 246.0% during 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 buying an additional 1,035,851 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $62,508,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in shares of Westlake by 12,724.7% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 351,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,652,000 after buying an additional 348,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 2,092.7% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 306,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $23,267,000 after buying an additional 292,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WLK. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Westlake from $92.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.80.

Westlake Stock Up 5.2%

NYSE:WLK opened at $105.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.02 and a 200-day moving average of $79.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of -9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 43.32 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $114.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders 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 currently -18.12%.

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.