Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $55.17 Million Stake in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 46.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 551,766 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 175,306 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.43% of Westlake worth $55,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Westlake by 71.9% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 33.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WLK stock opened at $76.42 on Monday. Westlake Corp. has a 52-week low of $68.55 and a 52-week high of $153.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.99. The company has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 4.19% and a net margin of 3.23%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's payout ratio is 70.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WLK. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $76.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.54.

Westlake Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.