Analysts Set Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) PT at $162.17

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $162.17.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $122.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 172.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $133.66 and a 200 day moving average of $141.84. Westlake has a 52 week low of $118.64 and a 52 week high of $162.64. 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 (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Westlake by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 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.