Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell sharply — down 22.6% to 3,447,322 shares as of April 15 (about 2.7% of shares short) with a days-to-cover of 3.3.
• CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares (~$1.76M) in February, reducing his stake by 28.15%; company insiders own about 1.4% of the stock.
• Shares trade near $111.74 (market cap $14.31B); Westlake posted an EPS beat despite negative margins, and analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" with a $110.19 price target while the quarterly dividend yields ~1.9%.

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,447,322 shares, a drop of 22.6% from the March 31st total of 4,453,477 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,059,838 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. The trade was a 28.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Westlake by 0.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 28,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $111.74. 130,678 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,303,189. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.55 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $110.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.43.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake's payout ratio is currently -18.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.19.

About Westlake

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company's core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.