Westlake (WLK) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, chlorinated derivative products, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), epoxy specialty resins, and base epoxy resins and intermediaries, as well as chlor-alkali, such as chlorine and caustic soda. The Housing and Infrastructure Products segment provides residential PVC sidings; PVC trim and mouldings; architectural stone veneers; windows; PVC decking; PVC films for various inflatables, wallcovering, and tape and roofing applications; polymer composite and cement roof tiles; PVC pipes and fittings for various water, sewer, electrical, and industrial applications; PVC compounds used in various housing, medical, and automobile products; and consumer and commercial products, such as landscape edging; industrial, home, and office matting; marine dock edging; and masonry joint controls. It offers its products to chemical processors, plastics fabricators, small construction contractors, municipalities, and supply warehouses for use in various consumer and industrial markets, including residential construction, flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, healthcare products, water treatment, wind turbines, and coatings, as well as other durable and non-durable goods. The company was formerly known as Westlake Chemical Corporation and changed its name to Westlake Corporation in February 2022. Westlake Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Westlake Corporation operates as a subsidiary of TTWF LP.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $129.13 to $131.01
• 50-Day Range: $126.66 to $150.29
• 52-Week Range: $118.64 to $162.64
• Volume: 399,754 shs
• Average Volume: 575,081 shs
• Market Capitalization: $16.79 billion
• P/E Ratio: 183.73
• Dividend Yield: 1.61%
• Price Target: $162.17
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Westlake Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Westlake scored higher than 88% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 39th out of 189 stocks in the basic materials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Westlake has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.38, and is based on 6 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Westlake has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 17.16%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Westlake are expected to grow by 17.16% in the coming year, from $6.47 to $7.58 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Westlake is 183.73, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 122.15.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Westlake is 183.73, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Basic Materials sector average P/E ratio of about 113.87.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Westlake has a PEG Ratio of 2.50. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Westlake has a P/B Ratio of 1.50. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.26% of the float of Westlake has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Westlake has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.3, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Westlake has recently increased by 13.29%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Westlake pays a meaningful dividend of 1.63%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Westlake has been increasing its dividend for 21 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Westlake is 295.77%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Westlake will have a dividend payout ratio of 27.70% next year. This indicates that Westlake will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Environmental Score: -5.16

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.26% of the float of Westlake has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Westlake has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 2.3, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Westlake has recently increased by 13.29%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.94

News Sentiment

Westlake has a news sentiment score of 0.94. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.56 average news sentiment score of Basic Materials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 4 news articles for Westlake this week, compared to 6 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 1 people have searched for WLK on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -75% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

3 people have added Westlake to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Westlake insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

74.10% of the stock of Westlake is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

Only 28.40% of the stock of Westlake is held by institutions.

WLK Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have WLK shares performed this year?

Westlake's stock was trading at $139.96 at the beginning of the year. Since then, WLK shares have decreased by 6.8% and is now trading at $130.45.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were Westlake's earnings last quarter?

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November, 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.80. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis.

When did Westlake's stock split?

Westlake shares split on Wednesday, March 19th 2014. The 2-1 split was announced on Tuesday, February 18th 2014. The newly created shares were distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, March 18th 2014. An investor that had 100 shares of stock prior to the split would have 200 shares after the split.

Does Westlake have any subsidiaries?

The following companies are subsidiaries of Westlake: Nakan, Axiall Corporation, Vinnolit Holdings, CertainTeed Corporation, Axiall Canada Inc., Axiall Holdco Inc., Axiall Limited Partnership, and more.

Who are Westlake's major shareholders?

Top institutional shareholders of Westlake include Victory Capital Management Inc. (2.13%), FMR LLC (2.12%), State Street Corp (0.93%) and Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. (0.46%). Insiders that own company stock include Albert Chao, Mark Steven Bender, L Benjamin Ederington, Roger L Kearns, Robert F Buesinger, David Tsung-Hung Chao and Johnathan Stevan Zoeller.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Westlake?

Shares of WLK stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of Westlake own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Westlake investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), The RMR Group (RMR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC), AUO (AUOTY) and Humana (HUM).

Company Calendar

• Ex-Dividend for 9/5 Dividend: 8/20/2024
• Dividend Payable: 9/05/2024
• Last Earnings: 11/05/2024
• Today: 11/23/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 12/12 Dividend: 11/26/2024
• Dividend Payable: 12/12/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 2/18/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Basic Materials
• Industry: Industrial organic chemicals
• Sub-Industry: Commodity Chemicals
• Current Symbol: NYSE:WLK
• CUSIP: 96041310
• CIK: 1262823
• Web: www.westlake.com
• Phone: (713) 960-9111
• Fax: 713-963-1590
• Employees: 15,520
• Year Founded: 1986

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $162.17
• High Stock Price Target: $180.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $135.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +24.3%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.38
• Research Coverage: 13 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $0.71
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 183.73
• Forward P/E Ratio: 20.16
• P/E Growth: 2.5
• Net Income: $479 million
• Net Margins: 0.81%
• Pretax Margin: 2.34%
• Return on Equity: 6.93%
• Return on Assets: 3.61%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.41
• Current Ratio: 2.79
• Quick Ratio: 2.04

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $12.55 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.34
• Cash Flow: $17.05 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 7.65
• Book Value: $86.91 per share
• Price / Book: 1.50

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 128,710,000
• Free Float: 33,335,000
• Market Cap: $16.79 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.19