HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Has $3.86 Million Holdings in Westlake Corporation $WLK

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 47.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 47,847 shares during the quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $3,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 2,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 140,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,352,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 45.0% in 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 buying an additional 585,438 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3,456.6% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 107,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,966,000 after buying an additional 104,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robotti Robert boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Robotti Robert now owns 256,244 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,947,000 after buying an additional 74,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $88.63 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.15. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The company has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.31) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WLK. Mizuho raised their price target on Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.36.

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.