Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WLK. Wall Street Zen cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price target on Westlake in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.64.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $77.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.58. The firm has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.07 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.31) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -16.69%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,036,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Westlake by 28.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 236,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,685,000 after buying an additional 52,551 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Westlake by 149.2% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 17,681 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,065,000 after buying an additional 10,586 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new stake in Westlake in the first quarter valued at $233,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Westlake by 23.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 44,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,194,000 after buying an additional 8,361 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.