Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $220.88 Million Stock Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 23.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,866,360 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 855,382 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $220,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Westlake by 79.9% in the 2nd 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 period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at approximately $104,314,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 142.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 15,193 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Westlake by 246.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,456,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WLK. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $92.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.80.

Westlake Trading Down 3.8%

WLK opened at $102.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 43.37 and a beta of 0.83. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $113.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.06.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -18.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.