SG Americas Securities LLC Has $2.87 Million Stock Holdings in Westlake Corporation $WLK

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 33.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,576 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,435 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Westlake by 497.5% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 42,043 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,911,000 after acquiring an additional 35,006 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Westlake by 219.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 17,689 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,761,000 after buying an additional 78,458 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $1,457,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WLK. Bank of America decreased their target price on Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.21.

Westlake Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:WLK opened at $73.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.36. Westlake Corporation has a 52-week low of $56.33 and a 52-week high of $124.23. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of -5.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.31) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently -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.