Aventail Capital Group LP Makes New $6.04 Million Investment in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Aventail Capital Group LP acquired a new position in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 78,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,037,000. Aventail Capital Group LP owned 0.06% of Westlake at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 180.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 49.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 58.1% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in Westlake by 87.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Westlake by 1,167.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. The trade was a 28.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $112.05 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.34. The company has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of -9.58 and a beta of 0.83. Westlake Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $116.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $1.22. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -18.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WLK. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price target on Westlake from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.80.

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.