Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $4.38 Million Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 56,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,376,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. CWM LLC grew 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Westlake by 989.6% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 180.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Westlake by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday, January 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.80.

Westlake Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $105.59 on Monday. Westlake Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $114.75. The stock has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.02, a PEG ratio of 42.79 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.78.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -18.12%.

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.