Bank of America Upgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to “Buy”

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $174.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $138.00. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.26% from the company’s previous close.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.43.

Westlake Stock Up 0.7 %

Westlake stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $149.67. The company had a trading volume of 169,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,925. The stock has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.52, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake has a 1 year low of $103.28 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $146.32 and a 200 day moving average of $136.00.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,923,225. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Gyon Technologies Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Westlake by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.