Corient Private Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its Westlake Corporation stake by 53.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,689 additional shares and bringing its total to 50,715 shares worth about $3.75 million.
• Other major institutional investors also raised their holdings, including Wellington Management, Vanguard, and Dimensional Fund Advisors, while hedge funds and institutions now own 28.4% of Westlake stock.
• Westlake reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of -$0.77 and revenue of $2.65 billion, and analysts currently rate the stock Hold on average with a consensus price target of $106.64.

Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 53.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,689 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Westlake were worth $3,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its holdings in Westlake by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,386,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $324,348,000 after buying an additional 472,224 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Westlake by 7,239.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $312,080,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,207 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $289,647,000 after purchasing an additional 477,698 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,548,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Westlake by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $139,431,000 after buying an additional 585,438 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $76.41 on Friday. Westlake Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $124.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.02 and a beta of 0.58.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company 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 revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently -16.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on WLK shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Westlake from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued 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 given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.64.

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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