Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $112.54 and last traded at $112.56, with a volume of 188671 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.83.

Westlake Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $124.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.10. The firm has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.72, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Westlake by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after purchasing an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Westlake by 699.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,445,000 after buying an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Westlake by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 90.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in Westlake in the third quarter worth approximately $55,542,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.