Westlake Corporation $WLK Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Westlake Corporation by 5.6%, now owning approximately 0.41% of the company worth about $41.9 million.
• Westlake Corporation reported a loss of $0.09 per share for the latest quarter, missing estimates and reflecting a 7.9% drop in revenue compared to the same period last year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.47 to $0.53, representing an annualized dividend of $2.12 and a yield of 2.7%.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 520,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 31,029 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.41% of Westlake worth $41,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Westlake by 251.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 127.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Westlake by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 565 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Westlake by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WLK opened at $77.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -145.89 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $83.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.50. Westlake Corporation has a twelve month low of $68.55 and a twelve month high of $143.93.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.15). The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is -400.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WLK. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Westlake from $98.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Westlake from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price target on Westlake in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.64.

Westlake 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.

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