Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $115.00 and last traded at $115.54, with a volume of 941106 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $117.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.83.

Westlake Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $130.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.44.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the third 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. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter valued at about $75,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.