Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $155.00 to $135.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $108.95 and last traded at $109.83, with a volume of 17966 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.68.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.92.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Westlake by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Westlake by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.39. 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 earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

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.