Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $140.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $152.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.83.

Westlake Trading Down 0.1 %

Westlake stock opened at $113.23 on Wednesday. Westlake has a one year low of $112.63 and a one year high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.57 billion, a PE ratio of 159.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $129.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.78.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 699.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,179,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 90.6% during the 3rd 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, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Westlake by 3,330.4% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 150,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,802,000 after acquiring an additional 145,673 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.