Barclays Upgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to "Overweight"

Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $180.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company's stock, up from their prior price target of $162.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Westlake from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an outperform rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $167.50.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WLK traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $149.28. 274,387 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 436,014. Westlake has a 1-year low of $112.77 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.74. The firm has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.42, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Westlake's payout ratio is 105.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its position in Westlake by 2.6% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 1.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 3.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Westlake by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,147,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.