Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $10.05 Million Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Westlake Corporation by 39.9%, owning $10.05 million in shares as of the latest SEC filing, totaling 132,401 shares.
• Westlake Corporation posted a loss of $0.09 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, and reported a 7.9% decline in revenue year over year.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.47 to $0.53 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.6%.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 39.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 37,763 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.10% of Westlake worth $10,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Westlake by 107.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 565 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 37.9% during the first quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 117,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $11,727,000 after purchasing an additional 32,231 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 39.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 2.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,439 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $10,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 7.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 371,175 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $37,129,000 after purchasing an additional 24,386 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.29.

Westlake Stock Down 1.6%

WLK traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.00. 429,252 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,037,148. Westlake Corporation has a 1-year low of $68.55 and a 1-year high of $151.56. The stock's 50-day moving average is $84.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.23. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -150.92 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is -400.00%.

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.