Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $118.50 and last traded at $118.95, with a volume of 9466 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $120.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WLK. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.17.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $132.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 168.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

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

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $180,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 699.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 520,669 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 90.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $58,084,000 after buying an additional 183,666 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in Westlake during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. Hedge funds and other 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.