Holocene Advisors LP Buys 696,029 Shares of Westlake Corporation $WLK

Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) by 440.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 854,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 696,029 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Westlake were worth $65,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 180.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 87.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Westlake by 1,167.1% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 1.1%

WLK stock opened at $110.86 on Tuesday. Westlake Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $116.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $94.32 and its 200-day moving average is $81.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of -9.48 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently -18.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.80.

About Westlake

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.