XTX Topco Ltd Buys New Position in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,500,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 17.3% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 30,421 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 4,493 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter valued at $282,000. Gries Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter valued at $1,352,000. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.8% during the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 6,578 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 13.3% during the first quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 4,991 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $79.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.86. Westlake Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $68.55 and a fifty-two week high of $153.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.03. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 4.19% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.4714 dividend. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WLK. UBS Group reduced their target price on Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.77.

Westlake Company 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.