Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Truist Financial from $127.00 to $104.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 34.80% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.64.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.15. The company had a trading volume of 67,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,088. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.53. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 0.62. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 433.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,072 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,062,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 204,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,100,000 after purchasing an additional 15,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $798,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

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.