Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Cut to $122.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $122.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WLK. 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.86.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $112.52 on Wednesday. Westlake has a 1-year low of $104.74 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.76. The company has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a PE ratio of 158.47, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.