Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $110.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $110.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.38.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.11. 514,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 744,301. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. Westlake has a twelve month low of $81.40 and a twelve month high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Westlake's payout ratio is 45.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 19.5% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 94,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $9,467,000 after buying an additional 15,460 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 100,439 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 10,113.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 53,416 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,343,000 after purchasing an additional 52,893 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Westlake by 404.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,677 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

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.