Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $145.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price upped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.29% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a research report on Monday, December 15th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.53.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded down $2.85 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $120.54. 1,104,530 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,379,404. Westlake has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $124.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $104.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market cap of $15.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.29 and a beta of 0.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total transaction of $1,756,916.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 219.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 17,689 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,761,000 after purchasing an additional 78,458 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,457,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $665,000. Institutional investors 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.