ING Groep NV Boosts Stock Holdings in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in Westlake Corp. by 32.7% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 7,300 shares for a total of $2,961,000 in holdings.
• Westlake Corp. has recently seen a decline in its stock price, with several analysts lowering their target prices, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $93.77.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4714, reflecting a 2.3% yield and a payout ratio of 70.47%.

ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 32.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Westlake were worth $2,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WLK. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 17.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $390,120,000 after purchasing an additional 586,178 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Westlake by 56.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $94,875,000 after purchasing an additional 299,597 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at $25,026,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 3,182.3% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $25,112,000 after purchasing an additional 212,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Trading Down 3.7%

WLK stock traded down $3.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,230,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,577. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -149.17, a PEG ratio of 49.13 and a beta of 0.92. Westlake Corp. has a 52-week low of $68.55 and a 52-week high of $153.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -396.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.93.

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.