Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 586,178 Shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 586,178 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 3.04% of Westlake worth $390,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its stake in Westlake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Westlake by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,292,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $83.77. 481,650 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 753,798. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 9.72 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.55 and a 12-month high of $153.34.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Westlake's payout ratio is 70.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.77.

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.