StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.
Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WLK. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.25.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WLK
Westlake Stock Performance
Shares of WLK traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 325,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,873. The stock's 50-day moving average is $101.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.14. Westlake has a one year low of $81.41 and a one year high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 131.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.
Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Westlake's revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.
Westlake Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.36%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,832,000 after acquiring an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Westlake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,242,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,098,000 after purchasing an additional 11,992 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,822,000 after buying an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.
About Westlake
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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