Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $117.17 and last traded at $116.3450, with a volume of 514170 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $113.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Westlake from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.20.

Westlake Stock Up 2.3%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.03. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.89 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -18.12%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. The trade was a 28.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Westlake by 219.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 58.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,457,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter worth about $665,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.