Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Receives $155.79 Average Target Price from Analysts

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.07.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WLK. Bank of America cut their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday.

Westlake Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $110.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $113.86 and its 200 day moving average is $128.64. Westlake has a 1 year low of $104.74 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 247.7% during 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 position in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

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.