WLK vs. LYB, NEU, MT, STLD, CCJ, CE, RS, FNV, ALB, and WPM
Should you be buying Westlake stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Westlake include LyondellBasell Industries (LYB), NewMarket (NEU), ArcelorMittal (MT), Steel Dynamics (STLD), Cameco (CCJ), Celanese (CE), Reliance (RS), Franco-Nevada (FNV), Albemarle (ALB), and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM). These companies are all part of the "basic materials" sector.
LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) and Westlake (NYSE:WLK) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, community ranking, media sentiment and profitability.
In the previous week, LyondellBasell Industries had 2 more articles in the media than Westlake. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for LyondellBasell Industries and 8 mentions for Westlake. Westlake's average media sentiment score of 1.12 beat LyondellBasell Industries' score of 0.95 indicating that LyondellBasell Industries is being referred to more favorably in the media.
LyondellBasell Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake. LyondellBasell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
LyondellBasell Industries has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.
LyondellBasell Industries has a net margin of 5.20% compared to LyondellBasell Industries' net margin of 2.13%. Westlake's return on equity of 19.31% beat LyondellBasell Industries' return on equity.
LyondellBasell Industries presently has a consensus target price of $105.08, indicating a potential upside of 4.14%. Westlake has a consensus target price of $151.00, indicating a potential downside of 4.33%. Given Westlake's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe LyondellBasell Industries is more favorable than Westlake.
LyondellBasell Industries pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. LyondellBasell Industries pays out 77.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Westlake pays out 100.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. LyondellBasell Industries has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Westlake has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. LyondellBasell Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
71.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 74.1% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
LyondellBasell Industries received 286 more outperform votes than Westlake when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.87% of users gave LyondellBasell Industries an outperform vote while only 58.15% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.
Summary
LyondellBasell Industries beats Westlake on 16 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get Westlake News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for WLK and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding WLK and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Westlake Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
