Westlake (WLK) Competitors

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) and LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, risk, valuation, dividends, community ranking, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in WLK or LYB?

28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 74.1% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WLK or LYB more profitable?

LyondellBasell Industries has a net margin of 3.39% compared to Westlake's net margin of 0.81%. LyondellBasell Industries' return on equity of 15.97% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake	0.81%	6.93%	3.61%
LyondellBasell Industries	3.39%	15.97%	5.74%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in WLK or LYB?

LyondellBasell Industries received 285 more outperform votes than Westlake when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.25% of users gave LyondellBasell Industries an outperform vote while only 57.18% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Westlake	Outperform Votes 474 57.18%	Underperform Votes 355 42.82%
LyondellBasell Industries	Outperform Votes 759 63.25%	Underperform Votes 441 36.75%

Do analysts rate WLK or LYB?

Westlake presently has a consensus price target of $126.23, suggesting a potential upside of 39.94%. LyondellBasell Industries has a consensus price target of $76.50, suggesting a potential upside of 33.93%. Given Westlake's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Westlake is more favorable than LyondellBasell Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69
LyondellBasell Industries	2 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, WLK or LYB?

LyondellBasell Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake. LyondellBasell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake	$12.14B	0.95	$479M	$4.63	19.48
LyondellBasell Industries	$40.30B	0.46	$1.37B	$4.14	13.80

Is WLK or LYB a better dividend stock?

Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. LyondellBasell Industries pays an annual dividend of $5.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. Westlake pays out 45.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LyondellBasell Industries pays out 129.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Westlake has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years and LyondellBasell Industries has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility and risk, WLK or LYB?

Westlake has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LyondellBasell Industries has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor WLK or LYB?

In the previous week, LyondellBasell Industries had 5 more articles in the media than Westlake. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for LyondellBasell Industries and 29 mentions for Westlake. Westlake's average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat LyondellBasell Industries' score of 0.66 indicating that Westlake is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Westlake	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
LyondellBasell Industries	19 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Westlake beats LyondellBasell Industries on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.