Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 23,449 Shares of Westlake Corp. $WLK

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its ownership in Westlake Corp. by 2.9%, now holding approximately 0.60% of the company with a valuation of $77.6 million.
• Westlake recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53, raising its annualized dividend to $2.12 with a yield of 2.4%.
• The company's last earnings report showed a $0.09 loss per share, missing analysts' estimates, and a revenue drop of 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 775,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 23,449 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Westlake worth $77,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Westlake by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 305,663 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $35,044,000 after acquiring an additional 34,481 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 29,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 4,501 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 107,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 75,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $8,612,000 after purchasing an additional 26,030 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 71.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 50,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,755,000 after purchasing an additional 20,854 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 note on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Westlake from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.29.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK traded down $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.71. 253,017 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,032,901. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -161.93 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Westlake Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $68.55 and a fifty-two week high of $151.56.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.Westlake's quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is presently -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.