Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $166.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WLK. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $145.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.97, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.48 and its 200-day moving average is $148.56. Westlake has a 1 year low of $112.77 and a 1 year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 105.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,429 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,961,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Westlake by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 48,169 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,742,000 after buying an additional 16,964 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 31,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 14,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Westlake by 102,250.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Westlake

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.