27,248 Shares in Westlake Corporation $WLK Purchased by Freestone Grove Partners LP

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners acquired 27,248 shares of Westlake, valued at approximately $1.99 million, while institutional investors overall own 28.4% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a predominantly cautious outlook, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.92, compared with the stock’s reported price of $75.87.
• Westlake exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $2.01 in EPS and $3.27 billion in revenue, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.533 per share, implying a 2.8% annual yield.

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,248 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,989,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 90.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised 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 worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price objective on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.92.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock opened at $75.87 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $124.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.92 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $76.09 and its 200-day moving average is $92.95.

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

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.533 per share. This represents a $2.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently -22.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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