Engineers Gate Manager LP Makes New Investment in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 289,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,388,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,386,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $324,348,000 after acquiring an additional 472,224 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $289,647,000 after acquiring an additional 477,698 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $160,548,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Westlake by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $139,431,000 after purchasing an additional 585,438 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in Westlake by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,670,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,505,000 after purchasing an additional 121,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.1%

WLK stock opened at $83.43 on Thursday. Westlake Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $124.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $98.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 0.58.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.31) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -16.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WLK. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup downgraded Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $125.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $119.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.36.

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.