Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires 48,263 Shares of Westlake Corp. $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 raised its stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 22,982.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,473 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WLK. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 107,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 71.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 50,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,755,000 after purchasing an additional 20,854 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Westlake by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Westlake by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 38,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,424,000 after buying an additional 4,887 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 84.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 372,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $42,672,000 after acquiring an additional 170,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Down 2.6%

Westlake stock opened at $86.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -162.43 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Westlake Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.55 and a twelve month high of $151.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.95.

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

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently -400.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Westlake from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Tudor Pickering raised Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.29.

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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