Engineers Gate Manager LP Has $26.65 Million Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 12,724.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 351,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 348,274 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $26,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 30,421 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after buying an additional 4,493 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Westlake by 13.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,295 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 244,497 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,457,000 after acquiring an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Westlake by 3,005.6% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth about $1,000,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $93.00 target price on Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $87.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $90.00 target price on Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.67.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $74.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.01 and a beta of 0.94. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $120.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 0.78% and a negative net margin of 8.34%.The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -28.57%.

Westlake Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.