Brokerages Set Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Price Target at $140.07

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.07.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Westlake Stock Up 1.9 %

WLK stock opened at $102.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.93. Westlake has a 12 month low of $99.18 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Westlake by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 3.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 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.