Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded to “Overweight” by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $180.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $162.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They set an outperform rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Westlake from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $167.50.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK opened at $150.29 on Monday. Westlake has a 1-year low of $112.77 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.53%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Westlake by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 48,169 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,742,000 after buying an additional 16,964 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Westlake by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 31,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 14,228 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $255,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Westlake by 460.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,898,000 after purchasing an additional 69,838 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth about $308,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.