Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Cut to $135.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target lowered by Piper Sandler from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.92.

Westlake Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $111.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 52-week low of $110.76 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 699.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,542,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.