JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 9,801 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.12% of Westlake worth $12,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $404,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Westlake by 79.9% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 48,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,646,000 after acquiring an additional 21,319 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $104,314,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 15,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 246.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,456,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a report on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.73.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the sale, the chairman owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total transaction of $1,756,916.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Westlake Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:WLK opened at $105.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 36.31 and a beta of 0.83. Westlake Corporation has a one year low of $56.33 and a one year high of $113.51.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -18.12%.

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.