ProShare Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 209,084 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,207 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Westlake worth $30,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in Westlake during the first quarter valued at $1,273,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,254,000. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in Westlake by 17.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth about $544,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Westlake in the first quarter valued at $207,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho assumed coverage on Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.00.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $144.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake Co. has a 52-week low of $112.77 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $143.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.55. The firm has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.50, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.53%.

About Westlake

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.