Citigroup Raises Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $124.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Citigroup from $100.00 to $124.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.68% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $92.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.80.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock traded down $2.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $100.26. The company had a trading volume of 611,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,433,579. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of -8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 52.44 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $114.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 79.9% during the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 48,014 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,646,000 after purchasing an additional 21,319 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $404,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth about $104,314,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 25,833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 15,193 shares during the period. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 246.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,456,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.