Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 24,012 Shares of Westlake Corp. $WLK

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its holdings in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 80.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 24,012 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Westlake were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $390,120,000 after acquiring an additional 586,178 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $112,711,000 after buying an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 882,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $101,175,000 after buying an additional 47,732 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at about $72,974,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 46.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 551,766 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $55,166,000 after buying an additional 175,306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.14. The company had a trading volume of 751,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,019. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $83.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.94. The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -160.64 and a beta of 0.92. Westlake Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.55 and a 1 year high of $151.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) 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 analysts' expectations of $3 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -400.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Westlake from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Tudor Pickering raised Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.29.

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.