Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $100.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.03% from the stock’s previous close.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Westlake from $92.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Westlake from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.20.

Westlake Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE:WLK traded down $3.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $99.97. 262,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,427,087. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $114.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.53, a P/E/G ratio of 52.44 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the business’s 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 owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Westlake by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.