MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Westlake Corp. $WLK

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. has reduced its stake in Westlake Corp. by 3.2%, currently holding 853,831 shares worth approximately $85.4 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently increased their holdings in Westlake, with Victory Capital Management boosting its stake by 17.7%, now owning 3.9 million shares.
• Westlake recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53, up from the previous $0.47, representing an annualized yield of 2.4%.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lessened its holdings in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 853,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 28,643 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned 0.67% of Westlake worth $85,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $112,711,000 after buying an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 799,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $91,634,000 after buying an additional 204,101 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 1st quarter worth $72,974,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 46.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 551,766 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $55,166,000 after buying an additional 175,306 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WLK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Westlake from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.29.

Westlake Trading Up 2.0%

WLK opened at $89.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -168.66 and a beta of 0.92. Westlake Corp. has a 12 month low of $68.55 and a 12 month high of $151.56. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.32 and a 200 day moving average of $87.45.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released 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 revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

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

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.

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