Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Westlake from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.92.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $80.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 112.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.30 and a 200 day moving average of $111.05. Westlake has a 52 week low of $76.97 and a 52 week high of $161.31.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 70.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 17.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,610,000 after buying an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,711,000 after buying an additional 58,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Westlake by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $107,092,000 after buying an additional 43,544 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.