Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 60,300 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 57.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,315 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Westlake were worth $12,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sprott Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 130,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,018,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,376,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 51.6% in the third quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 260,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,025,000 after purchasing an additional 88,499 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 7,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Journey Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WLK. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Westlake from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 target price on Westlake in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.80.

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 that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 3.8%

NYSE:WLK opened at $102.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.06. 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 firm has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a PE ratio of -8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 43.37 and a beta of 0.83. Westlake Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $113.51.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -18.12%.

Westlake 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.