Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $11.30 Million Stock Holdings in Westlake Corp. $WLK

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Westlake Corp. by 3.4%, now owning 112,945 shares valued at $11.30 million according to the recent 13F filing.
• Westlake Corp. experienced a 1.8% increase in stock price, with shares opening at $87.95 following a quarterly report that showed a miss on earnings expectations.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.53 per share, up from $0.47, indicating a 2.4% yield for shareholders.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 4,028 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Westlake worth $11,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 732.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $113,865,000 after buying an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,974,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 17.7% in 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 buying an additional 586,178 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 4th quarter worth about $25,026,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Westlake by 3,182.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $25,112,000 after buying an additional 212,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded up $1.18 on Friday, hitting $88.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 491,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,936. The company has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -167.12 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.64. Westlake Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.55 and a 1 year high of $151.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. 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 is presently -400.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.29.

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.