Insider Selling: Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Chairman Sells $3,120,724.44 in Stock

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Westlake Stock Performance

Westlake stock opened at $80.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a PE ratio of -8.36 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $77.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.74.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.11) earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Westlake by 7,239.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $312,080,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,207 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $240,474,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $160,548,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Westlake by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $139,431,000 after purchasing an additional 585,438 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $289,647,000 after purchasing an additional 477,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price objective on Westlake in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $110.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.92.

Westlake Company Profile

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.