Cerity Partners LLC Trims Position in Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,928 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,685 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Westlake were worth $7,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of WLK opened at $81.84 on Wednesday. Westlake Corp. has a 52-week low of $68.55 and a 52-week 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $77.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.32. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WLK shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.77.

Westlake 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.