State of Wyoming Makes New $579,000 Investment in Westlake Corporation $WLK

State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Westlake by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 180.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.36.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK stock opened at $84.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.14. The stock has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.65 and a beta of 0.58. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.69%.

Westlake 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.