Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $171.26 Million Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 22.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,466,020 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 419,658 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $171,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Westlake by 90.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 18,321 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 9.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth about $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. 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. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $127.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.64.

Westlake Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of WLK stock opened at $74.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.83 and a beta of 0.62.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -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.