SummitTX Capital L.P. Makes New Investment in Westlake Corporation $WLK

SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 14,335 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,675,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 433.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,072 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,062,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 17,689 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 204,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,100,000 after buying an additional 15,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at $798,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $72.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.69 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Westlake Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.31) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, July 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Westlake from $127.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.64.

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.