Royal Bank of Canada Trims Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Target Price to $170.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $174.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.08% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho started coverage on Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.17.

Westlake Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WLK stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $143.97. The stock had a trading volume of 69,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 434,944. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $143.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a PE ratio of 72.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake has a 52-week low of $112.77 and a 52-week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. Westlake’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Westlake will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 66.7% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at $101,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.