SG Americas Securities LLC Has $2.87 Million Stock Holdings in Westlake Corporation $WLK

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 33.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,576 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,435 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $2,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Westlake by 497.5% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 42,043 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,911,000 after acquiring an additional 35,006 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Westlake by 219.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 17,689 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,761,000 after purchasing an additional 78,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,457,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.21.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $73.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.79 and a beta of 0.58. Westlake Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.48 and a 200-day moving average of $94.36.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that Westlake Corporation will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently -16.69%.

About Westlake

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.