Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 16,496 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 16,496 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Westlake by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 546,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25,414 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the third quarter worth $463,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,992 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter valued at $943,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $732,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK opened at $88.35 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.91, a PEG ratio of 37.55 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake Corporation has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $119.86.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 8.34% and a negative return on equity of 0.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was 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 owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $88.00 price target on Westlake and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (down previously from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.47.

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.