Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,171 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,382 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Westlake were worth $2,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Westlake by 6,316.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Westlake by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Westlake Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:WLK traded up $1.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $73.57. 1,685,098 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 714,932. Westlake Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.55 and a 12-month high of $153.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Westlake's payout ratio is 70.47%.

Westlake Company 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.