State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 24,029 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 86.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 24,029 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Westlake were worth $281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 4.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 546,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25,414 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth about $463,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,992 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth about $943,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at about $732,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $86.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 39.85 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.72. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $119.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 0.78% and a negative net margin of 8.34%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WLK. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, December 15th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a research note on Monday, November 17th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target (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 issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

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.