Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 79,089 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 374 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Westlake were worth $7,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 71.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 33.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.85.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $81.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.20. Westlake Corp. has a twelve month low of $68.55 and a twelve month high of $153.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Westlake Corp. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.47%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.