Geode Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 574,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.45% of Westlake worth $43,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 49.9% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 66.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $90.00 target price on Westlake and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Tudor Pickering upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a report on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.67.

Westlake Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $62.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Westlake Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $131.20. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.50 and a beta of 0.95.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -28.57%.

About Westlake

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.