Brokerages Set Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Price Target at $140.07

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $140.07.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $100.73 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.26. Westlake has a 52-week low of $99.18 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a PE ratio of 141.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

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.