Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.17.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK opened at $128.19 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.55, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.19. Westlake has a twelve month low of $118.64 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in Westlake by 26.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.