Erste Asset Management GmbH Increases Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 260,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,499 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.20% of Westlake worth $20,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at $26,000. 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 during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 989.6% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 180.3% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 49.6% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 5.2%

Shares of WLK opened at $105.59 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $114.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of -9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 43.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (down from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Westlake from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Zacks Research raised Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, 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.