BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $171.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WLK. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho started coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.17.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $126.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $139.18 and a 200-day moving average of $145.35. The stock has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 178.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $118.64 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in Westlake in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,179,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after purchasing an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Appian Way Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at $25,154,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.