Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 8,258 Shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Key Points

• Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Westlake Corp. by 45.2%, owning 26,535 shares valued at approximately $2.65 million after acquiring an additional 8,258 shares in the first quarter.
• Westlake Corp. reported a loss of $0.31 EPS for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations, with total revenue at $2.85 billion, down 4.3% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, yielding 2.45%, and has a dividend payout ratio of 70.47%.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 45.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,258 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Westlake by 732.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $112,711,000 after acquiring an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Westlake by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $107,092,000 after acquiring an additional 43,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Westlake by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 882,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $101,175,000 after acquiring an additional 47,732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of WLK traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $78.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 218,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 989,732. The stock has a market cap of $10.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 21.01 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Westlake Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.55 and a 52 week high of $153.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $77.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.36.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The business 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 was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.4714 dividend. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Westlake's payout ratio is 70.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WLK. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.77.

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.