Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes $1.70 Million Position in Westlake Corporation $WLK

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 23,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Westlake by 1.3% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Westlake by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $127.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the sale, the chairman owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $75.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.92 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.09 and a 200-day moving average of $92.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Westlake Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%.The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.11) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.533 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently -22.23%.

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.