XTX Topco Ltd Takes Position in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd has acquired 14,995 shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK), valued at approximately $1.5 million, in the first quarter of the year.
• Westlake Corp. recently reported a loss of ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, which significantly missed analysts' expectations, as revenue declined 4.3% year-over-year to $2.85 billion.
• The company's quarterly dividend has been set at $0.4714, representing an annualized yield of 2.4%, with a payout ratio of 70.47%.

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 14,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,500,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 17.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 732.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 58,093 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Westlake by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $107,092,000 after purchasing an additional 43,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 882,474 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $101,175,000 after buying an additional 47,732 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Up 9.3%

Shares of WLK traded up $7.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,628,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,953. Westlake Corp. has a 1 year low of $68.55 and a 1 year high of $153.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The stock's 50 day moving average is $78.28 and its 200 day moving average is $92.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.4714 dividend. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is 70.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.77.

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.