Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Receives $140.07 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.07.

A number of research firms have recently commented on WLK. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $100.73 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.26. Westlake has a 52 week low of $99.18 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.87, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Westlake Company Profile

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.