Capital World Investors Makes New Investment in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,171,324 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,548,000. Capital World Investors owned 1.69% of Westlake at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Westlake by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 7,037 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 3,338 shares during the period. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter worth $218,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter worth $579,000. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 536,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,653,000 after purchasing an additional 94,950 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.36.

Westlake Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $85.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.71 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $103.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.56. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

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

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.