Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 39,834 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 65.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 39,834 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.08% of Westlake worth $7,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 640 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,886 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 1,840.4% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Westlake by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 132,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,053,000 after buying an additional 37,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Westlake by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 565 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. 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 report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $91.93.

Westlake Stock Up 3.2%

NYSE:WLK opened at $82.41 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $83.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.47. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of -155.48 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Westlake Corporation has a 1-year low of $68.55 and a 1-year high of $149.34.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). The business 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -400.00%.

Westlake Company 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.

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