Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by BMO Capital Markets

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was downgraded by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WLK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.79.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $76.74. 385,753 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,255,122. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $88.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.37. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.04 and a beta of 0.62. Westlake has a one year low of $56.33 and a one year high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.31) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Westlake by 90.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after acquiring an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Westlake by 43.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 18.2% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.