Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stock Position in Westlake Corp. $WLK

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 89.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 38,260 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Westlake were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 3.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 244,497 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $24,457,000 after buying an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Westlake by 251.1% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Westlake by 71.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Westlake by 4.6% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 12,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 2.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 61,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Westlake from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Westlake from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.29.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK stock traded up $1.59 on Friday, reaching $89.23. 821,067 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,035,597. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.06 and a 200-day moving average of $87.64. Westlake Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.55 and a twelve month high of $151.56. The firm has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of -168.26 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. 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. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is currently -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.