Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Raised to "Buy" at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $144.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WLK. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $156.92.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $110.03. The stock had a trading volume of 875,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,046. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a PE ratio of 154.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 1 year low of $108.95 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 699.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,179,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $58,084,000 after purchasing an additional 183,666 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3,330.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 150,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $23,802,000 after buying an additional 145,673 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.