Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,679 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,297 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.17% of Westlake worth $21,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Westlake by 251.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK traded up $0.65 on Monday, hitting $82.09. 698,204 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 758,897. Westlake Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $68.55 and a fifty-two week high of $153.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $77.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.53. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.77.

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.