Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $134.21.

Westlake Stock Down 3.5 %

WLK traded down $3.00 on Thursday, reaching $83.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 378,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 552,682. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $82.33 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.98. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Westlake by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $112,711,000 after acquiring an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.