Zacks Research Comments on Westlake’s Q2 Earnings (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) – Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Westlake in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings per share of $0.73 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.83. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Westlake’s current full-year earnings is $6.48 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Westlake’s Q3 2026 earnings at $0.61 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.72 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.09 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $1.90 EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WLK. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.80.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK opened at $110.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.48 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.48. Westlake has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $116.46.

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

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Westlake by 219.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 17,689 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,761,000 after purchasing an additional 78,458 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter worth about $1,457,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter worth about $665,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the firm’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 value 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. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -18.12%.

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.