Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.8667.

WLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on Westlake and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a research note on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $83.00 target price (down previously from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the sale, the chairman owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Westlake by 90.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Westlake by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 371,175 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,129,000 after buying an additional 24,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $87.94 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.85, a PEG ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.58. Westlake has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $119.86.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.47). Westlake had a negative net margin of 8.34% and a negative return on equity of 0.78%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.57%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.