190,180 Shares in Westlake Corporation $WLK Bought by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 190,180 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,062,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Westlake by 440.1% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 854,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,823,000 after purchasing an additional 696,029 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $289,647,000 after purchasing an additional 477,698 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Westlake by 495.8% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 475,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,661,000 after purchasing an additional 395,896 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth $28,383,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth $20,683,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. The trade was a 28.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:WLK opened at $88.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.60. The stock has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 0.67. Westlake Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -16.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued 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.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.43.

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.