Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 926,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 42,471 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.72% of Westlake worth $134,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 8,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $122,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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 price objective on Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.00.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $144.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a PE ratio of 72.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $143.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.49. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $112.77 and a 1-year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

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