StockNews.com Upgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.07.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $100.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a PE ratio of 141.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.68. Westlake has a 1-year low of $99.18 and a 1-year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,242,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,098,000 after buying an additional 11,992 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

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.