Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Coverage Initiated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 43.31% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.79.

Westlake Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $117.23 on Tuesday. Westlake has a 12 month low of $108.95 and a 12 month high of $162.64. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.24. The company has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.11, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLK. State Street Corp grew its position in Westlake by 0.8% in 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 buying an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 699.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,445,000 after purchasing an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 183,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,542,000. 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.