Entropy Technologies LP Sells 4,112 Shares of Westlake Corp. $WLK

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP sold 48.7% of its shares in Westlake Corp., reducing its holdings to 4,331 shares valued at approximately $433,000.
• Westlake Corp. recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.47 to $0.53 per share, providing a yield of 2.5% for shareholders of record.
• Several analysts have adjusted their ratings on Westlake, with Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgrading the stock to a "buy" and setting a target price of $90, while Piper Sandler lowered its target to $100.

Entropy Technologies LP lessened its holdings in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 48.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 4,112 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Westlake were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WLK. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $390,120,000 after acquiring an additional 586,178 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 827,516 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $94,875,000 after acquiring an additional 299,597 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $25,026,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 3,182.3% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $25,112,000 after acquiring an additional 212,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.29.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE WLK traded down $0.01 on Monday, reaching $83.97. The company had a trading volume of 282,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,027,923. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of -158.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 369.22 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $80.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.87. 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 results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The business's revenue was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is -396.23%.

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.