Marnell Management LLC Takes $865,000 Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Marnell Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 433.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,072 shares during the period. Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,037,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,062,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Westlake by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 260,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,025,000 after acquiring an additional 88,499 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 117,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,028,000 after acquiring an additional 44,525 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

Westlake stock opened at $88.63 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $101.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.17. The stock has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 0.58. Westlake Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WLK. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.36.

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.