Westlake Corporation $WLK Shares Purchased by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 53.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 17,689 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Westlake by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.64.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $76.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.02 and a beta of 0.58. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid 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 2.8%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -16.69%.

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.