Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Receives $154.85 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $155.79.

A number of research firms have issued reports on WLK. StockNews.com raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $117.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a twelve month low of $108.95 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $118.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.24.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 89.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 20,913 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in shares of Westlake by 62.5% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 7,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares during the period. AXA S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at about $523,000. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in Westlake by 189.6% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at about $353,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.