Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $130.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.85.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $113.32 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.60. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $108.95 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 159.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 295.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $101,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 8,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $252,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter valued at $122,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.