Analysts Set Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Target Price at $155.79

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.21.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised 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 worth $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 732.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,865,000 after buying an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,711,000 after acquiring an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $112.19 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a PE ratio of 158.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.88. Westlake has a 1-year low of $104.74 and a 1-year high of $162.64.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 295.77%.

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.