9,700 Shares in Westlake Corporation $WLK Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 497.5% during 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 buying an additional 35,006 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 219.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after buying an additional 17,689 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 worth $15,761,000 after buying an additional 78,458 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $1,457,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.00.

Westlake Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $74.78 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $124.23. The company has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.89 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.21.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The company 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 firm earned ($0.31) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.