Impala Asset Management LLC Invests $8.86 Million in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Impala Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 115,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,862,000. Westlake makes up approximately 6.0% of Impala Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Impala Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of Westlake at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of Westlake 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 completion of 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total transaction of $1,756,916.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. This trade represents a 28.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a report on Monday, November 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.73.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $105.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.42. The stock has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a PE ratio of -9.01, a P/E/G ratio of 36.31 and a beta of 0.83. Westlake Corporation has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $113.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

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

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.