Brandes Investment Partners LP Purchases 121,633 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,670,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 121,633 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $123,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Westlake by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $53,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 180.3% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 49.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $115.00 target price on Westlake and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.36.

Westlake Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE WLK opened at $86.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.77. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The company’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 posted ($0.31) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -16.69%.

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.