Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Raised to $99.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective boosted by Truist Financial from $82.00 to $99.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on WLK. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Mizuho set a $88.00 target price on Westlake and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (down from $93.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price objective on Westlake in a report on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Westlake Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of WLK opened at $85.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 43.67 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $119.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.44 and a 200 day moving average of $77.77.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 0.78% and a negative net margin of 8.34%.Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the business’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 sale, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Westlake by 90.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 9.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the first quarter worth approximately $211,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 107.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1,840.4% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.