Analysts Set Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) PT at $166.00

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $166.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WLK. Mizuho started coverage on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $101,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Up 0.0 %

WLK opened at $150.09 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.70. The company has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 75.42, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 1-year low of $112.77 and a 1-year high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

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

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.