Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $166.00 to $155.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $99.00 and last traded at $99.11, with a volume of 271196 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $102.92.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WLK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $113,865,000 after buying an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $46,630,000. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.57, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

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.