Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $140.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $152.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.11% from the company’s current price.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.83.

Westlake Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $117.54 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 165.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. Westlake has a 1 year low of $116.66 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $75,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Westlake

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.