Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stock Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Key Points

• Jones Financial Companies Lllp significantly increased its stake in **Westlake Corp.**, acquiring an additional **48,263 shares**, leading to a total ownership of **48,473 shares** valued at **$4.85 million**.
• Westlake Corp. faced a **2.6% decline** in stock price recently, with earnings per share of **-$0.09**, missing analysts' expectations of **$0.06**, and reported a **7.9% decline** in year-over-year revenue.
• The company also increased its quarterly dividend to **$0.53 per share**, up from **$0.47**, resulting in an annualized dividend of **$2.12** and a **2.5% dividend yield**.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 22,982.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,473 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,263 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Westlake were worth $4,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 251.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Westlake by 127.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Westlake by 71.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Westlake by 33.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Westlake by 3,005.6% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 559 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Trading Down 1.1%

WLK stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Monday, reaching $87.20. 218,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,028,165. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.29. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $68.55 and a 1 year high of $151.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -164.59 and a beta of 0.92.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Westlake's revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -400.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.29.

About Westlake

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.