Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 20,619 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 56.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,251 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,619 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Westlake were worth $4,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 440.1% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 854,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,823,000 after purchasing an additional 696,029 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $289,647,000 after acquiring an additional 477,698 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 495.8% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 475,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,661,000 after acquiring an additional 395,896 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $28,383,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $20,683,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup downgraded Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.36.

Westlake Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:WLK opened at $85.26 on Tuesday. Westlake Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $124.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.27 and a 200 day moving average of $92.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.71 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently -16.69%.

Westlake 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.