Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $155.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target reduced by Truist Financial from $166.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 56.42% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WLK. Piper Sandler cut shares of Westlake from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.21.

Westlake Trading Down 3.7 %

WLK opened at $99.09 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. Westlake has a 52 week low of $98.51 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 139.57, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $110.56 and a 200-day moving average of $123.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Westlake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 5.3% during 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 period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,822,000 after buying an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.5% in 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 period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.