23,272 Shares in Westlake Corporation $WLK Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings acquired 23,272 Westlake shares during the second quarter, worth approximately $1.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 28.4% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with four Buy, ten Hold and one Sell rating; the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $93.79 price target. Westlake shares opened at $70.77, well below their 52-week high of $124.23.
• Westlake exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.01 in EPS and $3.27 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year. The company also slightly increased its quarterly dividend to $0.533 per share, implying a 3.0% annual yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,700,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Westlake by 90.0% during the 1st 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 grew its position in Westlake by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at about $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Westlake by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 642,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $92.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price target on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.79.

Westlake Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of WLK opened at $70.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.39 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.25. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.11) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Westlake Corporation will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.533 per share. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is -22.23%.

Westlake Profile

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces chemicals, polymers and building products used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, consumer goods and other industrial applications.

Its Performance and Essential Materials businesses manufacture products such as chlor-alkali chemicals, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, epoxy resins and related specialty materials.

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